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A Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) delegation on Friday met Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and submitted a detailed representation seeking a nationwide exercise to identify and eliminate duplicate and multiple voter registrations.
The BRS delegation included party leaders B Vinod Kumar, Vaddiraju Ravichandra and Soma Bharath Kumar. BRS reiterated its full support for the Special Intensive Revision (SIR)-2026 and said the objective should be "One Citizen - One Vote", while ensuring that no genuine voter loses the right to vote. The party informed the Election Commission that it has deployed nearly 35,000 Booth Level Agents (BLAs) across Telangana to assist in identifying suspected duplicate and multiple voter registrations. BRS stated that its preliminary analysis found suspected duplicate and multiple voter registrations across all 119 Assembly constituencies in Telangana, warranting a comprehensive scientific verification by the ECI. The representation categorised suspected duplicate registrations into four categories, such as within the same Assembly constituency, within the same Parliamentary constituency, across different Assembly constituencies in Telangana and between Telangana and neighbouring states. BRS claimed its preliminary analysis found an average of 16,243 suspected duplicate voter entries per Assembly constituency, with the highest touching 53,695. The party clarified that these are only suspected cases requiring statutory verification by the Election Commission. Since Telangana shares borders with Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharashtra and Chhattisgarh, BRS urged the Election Commission to specifically identify inter-state duplicate voter registrations during SIR-2026. The party requested the Election Commission to use AI, Aadhaar-enabled verification (where legally permissible), facial recognition, GIS mapping and de-duplication software, along with field verification, to identify duplicate registrations. Referring to the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh, BRS said many voters may still have registrations in both Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. It urged the Election Commission to identify such cases and allow voters to retain only one valid registration at the place of their choice, in accordance with the law. BRS cited Sections 17, 18 and 62 of the Representation of the People Act, stating that multiple voter registrations are prohibited and should be eliminated during the ongoing revision. At the same time, BRS stressed that not a single genuine voter should be deleted due to procedural errors, mistaken identity or incomplete verification. The party assured the Election Commission of its full cooperation in conducting a transparent, scientific and legally sustainable Special Intensive Revision. (ANI)
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