Owaisi submits representation to CEO on Telangana SIR

All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen president Asaduddin Owaisi submitted a representation to the Chief Electoral Officer flagging several concerns connected to the upcoming Special Intensive Revision (SIR) warning that the process could place an unnecessary burden on voters and Booth Level Officers (BLOs).

In the representation, Mr Owaisi said the enumeration forms are expected to contain only details from the 2025 electoral roll, requiring voters to manually fill in information from the 2002 electoral roll. He reasoned that data collected during the earlier pre-SIR mapping exercise should be used to generate pre-filled forms containing details from both rolls, thereby reducing inconvenience to voters and easing the workload of BLOs.

‘’It is also pertinent to mention that voters whose mapping was completed do not have their 2002 details, as the mapping was done on the BLO app, and no acknowledgement containing both 2002 and 2025 details was provided to them during the pre-SIR exercise,’’ he wrote.

“We kindly request that a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) be issued to address such anomalies and to enable the enrollment of such electors in the final roll,” an except reads.

The Hyderabad MP also sought the availability of enumeration forms in English and Urdu in addition to Telugu, noting that English is widely used in administration and public life in Telangana, while Urdu is the State’s second official language.

He also raised concerns over the limited list of documents currently accepted for verification. Contending that some of the prescribed documents are either unavailable or not applicable in Telangana, he requested that commonly used government-issued documents such as PAN cards, driving licenses and food security cards also be accepted.

Speaking to the media later in the day, Mr Owaisi said that the move would affect the poor, who he underscored have only one significant strength, the right to vote, the most. “If the poor are excluded from this, then what is left of democracy?”

SIR consequences beyond electoral process

Responding to a question on whether the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise could have consequences beyond the electoral process, including the loss of government benefits, property rights, or the ability to transfer property, he said such a scenario could not be ruled out.

“The BJP government in West Bengal has issued a memo or government order stating that those whose names are excluded following the SIR exercise will be denied all government benefits. Juxtapose that with the Supreme Court order, which stated that in cases where names are not included in the SIR, the Election Commission of India should forward those names to the competent authority. What would be the competent authority? The Ministry of Home Affairs. What will they do? They will ask those voters to prove their citizenship. Of course, that can happen.”

He raised questions over whether booth level officers (BLOs) would be able to cover all households, and electors, given the exhaustive scope of work, and the onset of monsoon, which he implied would create significant impediments for BLOs in terms of reaching voters.

SIR, a factor for TMC’s loss in Bengal

Taking questions on the recent West Bengal election, the Hyderabad parliamentarian said that while SIR undeniable was one of the factors, the Trinamool Congress lost because of misgovernance, corruption and not doing justice with the Muslims.

Trump, a threat to world peace

“Donald Trump is a threat to word peace. You cannot attack any ship,” Mr Owaisi said, irrespective of on what flag what the ship is sailing under.

He also expressed his anguish on what he implied was Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s muted response. “Prime Minister Narendra Modi has not uttered a single word condemning the killing of these Indians. What is the point of merely summoning a US Embassy official to express displeasure by issuing a demarche?” he asked.