Anti-Congress campaign against SIR, Telangana BJP chief told party cadre

BJP State President N. Ramchander Rao and BJP State co-inductee Abhay Patil during a meeting of BJP State Office Bearers at the BJP State Office in Hyderabad on October 5, 2026. | Photo credit: Siddhant Thakur

Telangana BJP president N. Ramchander Rao urged party leaders and cadres to counter what he called Congress’ disinformation campaign against Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls and explain to the people the importance of keeping electoral rolls clean.

Addressing a meeting of conveners of various party cells, senior leaders, state spokespersons and media panelists at the BJP state office, Mr. Rao alleged that the Congress was creating false narratives about the SIR process to mislead people.

He accused Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy of targeting constitutional institutions for fear of electoral defeats.

Referring to the recent meeting of the Congress delegation with the President, Mr. Rao said that Mr. Gandhi had said that the President was seeking evidence for the allegations leveled by the party. But he argued that Congress failed to provide supporting evidence. He also criticized Congress for claiming that the president had acknowledged vote-stealing, calling it an attempt to spread disinformation.

Explaining the SIR process, the BJP leader said the second phase of the exercise was a lengthy four-to-five-month process that involved verification at multiple levels.

Booth level officers (BLOs) will visit households to verify voter details and check the status of deceased persons and those who have migrated before preparing the draft electoral rolls, he said. A procedure was also prescribed for restoration of names if objections were raised after their deletion.

Claiming that the Congress had failed to substantiate its claims of mass deletions, Mr. Rao called on the party to identify the voters whose names were illegally removed. He said the BJP cadre should take the issue to the public and emphasize how a transparent and accurate electoral roll will strengthen democracy.

Published – 10 Oct 2026 14:29 IST