The Bharat Rashtra Samithi has demanded the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and an independent inquiry into alleged large-scale voter deletions in Telangana during the Special Intensive Revision process, with party leaders claiming that about 95 lakh names were removed from the electoral rolls across the state.
BRS parliamentary party leader Vaddiraju Ravichandra made the demands at a press conference at Telangana Bhavan on Friday. He called for the restoration of the deleted names, an investigation into the role of local officials and a probe into applications submitted through Form 7, which is used to seek the deletion of voters from electoral rolls.
Ravichandra alleged that the Election Commission was acting in favour of the Bharatiya Janata Party and claimed that constituencies represented by BRS legislators had been disproportionately affected. The allegations were made by the BRS and were not independently established in the report.
The party leader also sought the disclosure of decisions on which the two Election Commissioners had reportedly differed with the Chief Election Commissioner. He further demanded clarification on concerns raised by the party regarding electronic voting machines.
Karimnagar MLA and former Telangana minister Gangula Kamalakar said around 1.06 lakh votes had been deleted in his constituency alone. He said he had received a notice and claimed that several residents had lost their voting rights after failing to submit explanations.
Kamalakar demanded Kumar’s immediate removal from office. BRS MLA Palla Rajeshwar Reddy alleged that the BJP was the principal beneficiary of the deletions and accused the Congress government in Telangana of facilitating the process. He also claimed that deletions were higher in constituencies won by the BRS and called for Kumar’s removal, arrest and an investigation.
The dispute highlights the administrative importance of electoral-roll revision, in which notices, objections and responses can determine whether a voter’s name remains on the rolls. The BRS has alleged that the process resulted in names being removed without adequate protection for affected voters, but the report does not provide an official response from the Election Commission, the Telangana Chief Electoral Officer or the state government.
The party had planned a protest outside the Chief Electoral Officer’s office at Burgula Ramakrishna Rao Bhavan on Saturday. Rajeshwar Reddy said the protest had been postponed because of the festivals and that the BRS would organise large-scale demonstrations at a later date.
Former minister Errabelli Dayakar Rao demanded that all 95 lakh allegedly deleted names be restored. He said removing the Chief Election Commissioner from office would not be sufficient and called for an inquiry into what he described as lapses by the Election Commission. The next protest date and any response from the election authorities were not specified in the report.
