Owaisi notes ‘anomalies’ in SIR, seeks wider list of valid documents

AIMIM President and Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi at a media conference in Nampally, Hyderabad on Thursday. | Photo credit: NAGARA GOPAL

All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) president Asaduddin Owaisi on Thursday urged the Election Commission of India (ECI) to expand the list of documents accepted under the Special Intensive Review (SIR), expressing concern over what he termed anomalies in the ongoing exercise.

Addressing the media, Mr. Owaisi said the 12 documents currently prescribed by the ECI should not be considered an exhaustive list. He urged the Telangana government to inform the ECI about the documents it is issuing so that they can also be considered valid for verification.

“We request the ECI to accept the PAN cards issued by the central government. The state government issues white ration cards and food security cards. You can check and accept these cards. The state government also issues driving licences,” he said, adding that Telangana does not issue three of the 12 documents listed in the ECI.

The Hyderabad MP also questioned the criteria used to classify voters as anomalies. He said a voting record was marked if the age difference between father and child was 15 years, between grandfather and grandson was 40 years or if the voter had six children. Pointing to examples, Mr. Owaisi said that both Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath have six siblings. “I also have six children,” he noted.

Citing data from Zaheerabad Assembly constituency, he said that out of 2,57,090 people mapped, 1,45,794 were categorized as anomalous voters, including 1,31,936 voters. He expressed concern that such voters might be left out of the draft electoral rolls.

“I say this with assurance that many BLOs in Sangareddy itself are on the anomaly list,” he said. He also pointed out the possibility of spelling errors in various voter lists leading to voters being classified as anomalies. “It was the Electoral Commission that recorded these names (while preparing the 2002 proposals). Why should people be punished for this?” he said.

The AIMIM chief added that work on the National Register of Citizens and the National Population Register is being carried out through the SIR exercise.

On the incident in which Indian sailors were killed by US forces, Mr. Owaisi condemned the incident and described US President Donald Trump as a “madman”. “Trump is out of his mind. CENTCOM knows what ships are going through there. He’s done a prank,” he said.

Published – 11 Jun 2026 22:49 IST