Union Coal and Mines Minister G. Kishan Reddy, who also serves as BJP's Telangana state president, on Thursday, 25 June 2026, called on all party MPs, MLAs, and workers to actively participate in the Election Commission of India's Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process, which he said had commenced in Telangana that day. Reddy urged that the exercise be viewed strictly as an administrative reform of the state's voter rolls — not through a political lens — and demanded that not a single duplicate or fake vote remain in the updated list.

Context

Posting in Telugu on 25 June 2026, Reddy described the SIR process as a raajyaangaparaina, chaattabaddhamaaina kaaryakramam (constitutional, statutory programme) being conducted by the Election Commission of India (ECI) across the country in phases. He noted that the revision had already concluded successfully in states that recently held assembly elections, including BJP-governed states, without disruption. With Telangana now entering the SIR cycle, Reddy said the party would extend full cooperation, as it always has, to any transparent voter-list update process.

Reddy directly addressed political parties and leaders who, he said, were making 'inflammatory statements suggesting something untoward is happening.' He called such rhetoric 'incorrect' and said it misrepresents a routine constitutional exercise as a partisan act.

Policy Backdrop

The Election Commission of India derives its authority to revise electoral rolls from Article 324 of the Constitution and the Representation of the People Act, 1950. The ECI periodically conducts both summary and intensive revisions to add eligible voters, remove deceased or shifted entries, and eliminate duplicates. A nationwide phased Special Summary Revision was conducted ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections for the same purpose.

The SIR is a more thorough, door-to-door exercise compared to a summary revision. It involves booth-level officers verifying entries, accepting claims from eligible citizens not yet on the rolls, and processing objections against ineligible or duplicate entries. The process culminates in the publication of a final, updated electoral roll.

Stakeholders and Impact

For Telangana's voters, the SIR offers a structured window to enrol, correct details, or flag bogus entries. Reddy's post framed the exercise around a dual democratic obligation: ensuring every eligible Indian citizen has the right to vote, while simultaneously purging fake, duplicate, and counterfeit voter cards that can distort electoral outcomes.

Reddy directed all BJP MPs, MLAs, and workers in Telangana to participate actively under the guidance of BJP national president Shri Nitin Nabin and the leadership of Telangana BJP president Shri Ramchander Rao. The instruction signals that the party intends to use its ground network to assist booth-level officers and mobilise voter enrolment during the claims-and-objections window.

Opposition parties and some political leaders have apparently raised concerns about the timing or conduct of the SIR in Telangana. Reddy's post is, in part, a rebuttal to those voices, urging them not to 'incite' the public with alarmist statements about an otherwise standard ECI-mandated process.

What's Next

The completion of the SIR in Telangana will be followed by a claims-and-objections period, after which the Election Commission will publish a final revised electoral roll for the state. Political parties, including the BJP, are expected to submit representations on disputed entries during that window. How opposition parties in Telangana respond to the ongoing revision — and whether their concerns are formally placed before the ECI — will shape the political temperature around the exercise in the weeks ahead.