Hyderabad: Ahead of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Telangana, which will be held in phase 3, Non-Resident Indians (NRI) are confused over the fate of their names in the voters’ list.
The NRIs are confused whether their relatives in India can fill out their enumeration form or not.
Confusion of Hyderabad NRIs
An NRI, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said that there are many people from Hyderabad who have registered as voters in the city and later moved to other countries in search of better opportunities or for higher studies.
Although they have not taken citizenship of another country, they are not ordinary residents of India, which is one of the eligibility criteria to become a voter.
As per the law, NRIs need to register themselves as overseas voters by filling out ‘form 6A’ (click here). They can register in the assembly constituency based on the address mentioned in their passport.
However, confusion was triggered after the enumeration form (click here to view EF) of the SIR, which is ongoing in other states and Union Territories, mentioned “Signature/Left Thumb impression of Elector or Any Adult Family Member (mention relationship) with date.”
Recently, in Rampur district of Uttar Pradesh, a case was registered after a woman reportedly submitted enumeration forms on behalf of her two sons who have been living abroad in Dubai and Kuwait for several years.
Later, the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) of Uttar Pradesh, speaking to media persons, said that the enumeration form of NRIs cannot be filled by their relatives.
According to the Election Commission of India website, “a citizen of India, absent from the country owing to employment, education etc, has not acquired citizenship of any other country and are otherwise eligible to be registered as a voter in the address mentioned in your passport.”
SIR in Telangana
On Sunday, December 22, Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar said that Telangana would soon become a role model for the entire country in the SIR of the electoral roll.
Addressing booth-level officers (BLOs) in Hyderabad, he said that Telangana would be covered under the next phase of SIR.
The CEC said that the massive SIR process conducted in Bihar was completed without any flaws.
State Chief Electoral Officer C. Sudarshan Reddy, in his introductory speech, explained the key statistics related to Telangana state. He mentioned details such as the total number of voters in the state, districts, Assembly constituencies, and Parliament constituencies.
Over 1 crore voters deleted
The publication of the draft electoral rolls in West Bengal, Rajasthan, Goa, Lakshadweep and Puducherry showed a reduction of over 1 crore names being removed from the list in the recently concluded SIR, with West Bengal topping the list.
Data released by the Chief Electoral Officers of these states/Union Territories showed that the number of electors had reduced from 13.35 crore to 12.33 crore in the draft rolls.
In West Bengal, out of 7.66 crore electors as of October 27, as many as 7.08 crore were included in the draft electoral rolls, resulting in a net difference of 58 lakh.
