Amid SIR, Hyderabad graduates’ constituency voter registration begins

Hyderabad: Telangana Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) C Sudharshan Reddy has invited applications for the Hyderabad graduates’ constituency amid the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in the state.

Apart from the Mahabubnagar-Rangareddy-Hyderabad constituency, applications are invited for the Warangal–Khammam–Nalgonda constituency.

Eligibility

Not every voter can participate in the Graduates’ Constituency elections. A person must be a resident of the concerned constituency and have passed a degree, an equivalent diploma, or a higher qualification at least three years before November 1, 2026.

For the current elections, the degree must have been completed on or before October 31, 2023. The date of convocation is not considered. The date of passing mentioned in the marks memo or provisional certificate will be used.

Telangana has a bicameral legislature with a Legislative Assembly and a Legislative Council. The Legislative Council is a permanent body with 40 members, each serving a six-year term. One-third of its members retire every two years.

Of the 40 Legislative Council members, three are elected by graduates, three by teachers, 14 by local authorities, 14 by the Legislative Assembly, and the Governor nominates six.

Telangana has three Graduates’ Constituencies:

• Mahabubnagar–Rangareddy–Hyderabad
• Warangal–Khammam–Nalgonda
• Adilabad–Nizamabad–Medak–Karimnagar

The current enrolment exercise covers only the first two constituencies. The terms of S. Vani Devi and Sri Teenmar Mallanna are due to end on March 29, 2027. Due to this, elections in the Mahabubnagar–Rangareddy–Hyderabad and Warangal–Khammam–Nalgonda Graduates’ Constituencies are scheduled to be held.

How to enrol

Eligible graduates in Telangana can register as voters for the upcoming Legislative Council elections in the Mahabubnagar–Rangareddy–Hyderabad and Warangal–Khammam–Nalgonda Graduates’ Constituencies till November 6 by submitting Form-18.

Applications can be submitted online through the Chief Electoral Officer Telangana website (click here) or offline to the Electoral Registration Officer (ERO), Assistant Electoral Registration Officer (AERO) or another designated officer.

The offline application can be submitted personally or by post.

Citizens who were registered as Graduate voters in earlier Legislative Council elections must also apply again.

Applicants have to provide proof of their educational qualification.

Following is the schedule announced by the Election Commission:

SIR in Hyderabad

The Form-18 has been announced amid the ongoing hearing of the SIR notices in the city.

So far, over 48.88 lakh voters have been cleared for inclusion in the final electoral rolls in Telangana.

Telangana CEO said that as of September 29, a total of 48,88,076 electors were found eligible for inclusion in the final electoral rolls.

A total of 92,88,180 notices were generated on account of logical discrepancies and non-mapping of records during the phases of notices and disposal of claims and objections under the SIR.

The election authorities delivered 88,52,173 notices. According to the CEO, 4,36,007 notices are pending for delivery.

The authorities have so far conducted 61,87,444 hearings before Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) and Assistant Electoral Registration Officers (AEROs). Of the cases processed through these hearings, 48,88,076 electors have been found eligible and cleared for inclusion in the final roll.

A total of 12,99,368 notices are under verification by District Electoral Officers (DEOs).

The final publication of the electoral rolls is scheduled for November 9.