Hyderabad worst in voter mapping as Telangana braces for roll revision

HYDERABAD: Hyderabad has emerged as the weakest link in Telangana's ongoing preparatory exercise to clean up and verify electoral rolls, recording the lowest mapping coverage in the state at just 28% under the pre-Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process.The figures have highlighted a stark urban-rural divide in voter verification, with election officials pointing to high migration and frequent changes of residence in city constituencies as the primary reasons.While Telangana has achieved an overall 53% mapping progress, Hyderabad lagged far behind. After the capital, the lowest coverage was recorded in Medchal Malkajgiri (30%), Rangareddy (44%), Warangal (45%), Sangareddy (46%) and Nizamabad (53%).

In contrast, several districts posted significantly higher figures, with Siddipet leading at 80%, followed by Rajanna Sircilla (78%), Yadadri Bhuvanagiri (75%) and Nalgonda (75%).Election officials clarified that the current activity is only a preparatory mapping exercise and not the actual SIR. The full SIR will begin only after it is formally notified by the Election Commission of India, and is expected to be taken up in April-May.

Explaining the urban lag, chief electoral officer of Telangana C Sudharshan Reddy told TOI that mapping has progressed faster in rural areas and smaller districts, while cities continue to pose challenges. He attributed the slow pace in urban constituencies to frequent migration and repeated changes of residence, which make it difficult to establish linkages between older and newer electoral rolls.Under the ongoing exercise, booth-level officers (BLOs)-each responsible for around 250 voters per booth-are verifying the 2025 electoral rolls against the 2002 rolls, which were finalised during the last SIR.Verification is being carried out through a mobile application linked to the ERONET platform, with BLOs confirming electors through field visits and digital checks to establish continuity across the rolls.The CEO said mapping is being done in two ways: Direct mapping and progeny mapping. Direct mapping applies when a voter's name appears in both the 2002 and 2025 rolls. Progeny mapping is used when a voter is listed only in the 2025 roll but can be linked through parents or grandparents whose names appear in the 2002 roll.Until recently, verification was limited to records within Telangana. Over the past week, the system has been expanded nationwide, allowing officials to verify whether electors are listed in rolls of other states as well. Officials said this would help address cases involving inter-state migration. As preparations continue, political parties have been urged to appoint at least one booth-level agent for every polling station.

Sudharshan Reddy stressed the need for close coordination at the booth level, noting that the actual SIR window is likely to be limited to about one month once notified.Officials said preparatory work includes table-top mapping to link electors, followed by house-to-house field verification, particularly in urban areas where gaps in mapping remain the widest.