Telangana SIR: A vote lost in revision

Telangana SIR: A vote lost in revision Spotlight left At the end of enumeration, the CEO’s office reported 73.39 lakh voters in the Absent, Shifted, Dead, Duplicate category. File Photo File Photo https://th-i.thgim.com/public/incoming/rnvn6v/article71589892.ece/alternates/FREE_1200/PTI02_28_2026_000398A.jpg Kolkata: A voter checks his name in the list after the Election Commission published West Bengal's post-SIR electoral rolls, in Kolkata, Saturday, Feb. 28, 2026. (PTI Photo)(PTI02_28_2026_000398A) Telangana’s Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls has been marred by systemic flaws, poor coordination, technical glitches and alleged political inteference, leaving lakhs of voters deleted, wrongly classified as deceased or asked to establish their eligibility afresh. Syed Mohammed and Swathi Vadlamudi examine how a process meant to clean up the rolls has left voters struggling to reclaim their electoral identity The news hit Jaseemunnisa Begum, an elector from Musheerabad Assembly constituency in Hyderabad, like a bolt of lightning: her husband was dead. Except, he was not.