Published Oct 10, 2026 | 8:15 AM ⚊ Updated Oct 10, 2026 | 8:15 AM
Synopsis: Mohammed Ateeq, a voter in Hyderabad’s Yakutpura constituency, says his name was deleted from the electoral rolls on the basis of an objection he did not file, days after completing pre-mapping for the Special Intensive Revision (SIR). Telangana recorded 24,323 Form 7 applications during the SIR period from 15 June to 7 October, resulting in 12,204 deletions.
Mohammed Ateeq, a voter in Hyderabad’s Yakutpura constituency, has alleged that his name was deleted from the electoral rolls on 4 May on the basis of an application filed by an unidentified person, days after he completed pre-mapping for the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.
The allegation comes amid reports of pre-printed Form 7 applications being filed in bulk across Telangana constituencies, seeking the deletion of eligible Muslim voters from electoral rolls.
Ateeq told South First that he received an SMS in May informing him that a request to delete his name had been processed.
“On 30 April, pre-SIR mapping was done but on 4 May my vote was deleted. I don’t know who deleted it. Later during the enumeration phase, I did not get the form but my entire family got it. My father, mother, sisters and brother, everyone got their forms except for me,” he said.
Ateeq said his name was listed in the 2002 electoral rolls and that he had consistently voted in all major elections, including the 2024 General Election. He has lived in the same house since 1998 and said he could not understand why his name had been deleted.
He filed a complaint and submitted a Form 6 application in July to have his name included in the electoral rolls. A booth-level officer (BLO) was assigned to his case and conducted field verification.
Ateeq later received an SMS stating that his application had been forwarded to the Electoral Registration Officer (ERO). He has received no further update on its status.
Form 7 is used to seek the deletion of a name from the electoral roll or to object to the proposed inclusion of a person’s name. Voters can also use it to seek the deletion of their own names if they have permanently moved, are enrolled in another constituency or are no longer Indian citizens.
Under Election Commission norms, an applicant seeking a deletion must state the reason. A knowingly false declaration is punishable under Section 31 of the Representation of the People Act, 1950.
Data from the Telangana Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) show that 24,323 Form 7 applications were received across the State between 15 June and 7 October, during the SIR period. Of these, 12,204, or roughly half, resulted in deletions from the electoral rolls.
Hyderabad district accounted for 6,335 applications, about a quarter of the State total, and 2,066 deletions. The figures cover only the SIR period and exclude applications filed before 15 June.
Voters deleted via Form 7 objections
Activists have alleged that Form 7 applications targeting Muslim voters began to be filed in Telangana before the start of the SIR process.
Jalaluddin Zafar of Youth Welfare Telangana told South First that he had received several complaints from voters whose names had been deleted following Form 7 objections.
“These applications started from January 2026 and are still continuing. Most affected voters are not even aware that their votes have been deleted. They will come to know only on polling day. This is not revision, this is mass disenfranchisement. This proves genuine voters are being removed without proper notice or hearing, violating natural justice,” he said.
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The Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) found pre-printed Form 7 applications in multiple constituencies across Hyderabad, including Musheerabad, where a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) booth-level agent (BLA), S Balachander, submitted more than 30 applications seeking the deletion of Muslim voters.
The applications named members of a single Muslim family, including Shafiuddin, a Congress BLA, and his relatives. Similar applications targeting Muslim voters were reported from Bahadurpura and Goshamahal, though details of those who filed them were not available.
Telangana Chief Electoral Officer C Sudarshan Reddy subsequently directed EROs to act against anyone who knowingly made false declarations in Forms 6, 6A, 7 and 8 during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR).
An FIR was registered against Balachander at Chikkadpally police station following a complaint by Musheerabad ERO Praveen Kumar. The complaint alleged that Balachander had filed the Form 7 applications with “malafide intentions to delete voters not connected to him”. The case was registered under Sections 217 and 318(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and Section 31 of the Representation of the People Act, 1950.
Bulk Form 7 filings continued in Goshamahal, represented by T Raja Singh, who was formerly affiliated with the BJP.
K Shiva Durga Prasad, the booth-level officer (BLO) for polling station No. 21 in the constituency, told South First that BJP BLA Sai Kiran pressured election officials into accepting around 180 pre-printed forms.
At polling station No. 28, BJP BLA T Janardhan attempted to submit bulk Form 7 applications, but the BLO refused to accept them. Janardhan told South First that he had received the forms from the party’s local in-charge.
Goshamahal ERO Uma Prakash issued instructions to all BLOs in the constituency to flag bulk filings. She said criminal action would be initiated against BLAs who pressured election officials to accept such applications.
(Edited by Dese Gowda)
