Telangana had 6.51 lakh young voters — between 18 and 19 years of age — as of 19 September, 2023, according to Telangana Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Vikas Raj.
This implied that they would play a very crucial role in deciding the fate of the candidates in the fray in the Assembly elections in November-December.
It also meant that political parties might have to rework their electoral strategies to connect with the youth.
Interestingly, the young voters’ number of 6.51 lakh was an increase of 234 percent within a matter of just eight and a half months. The number was 2.79 lakh as of 5 January this year.
The phenomenal increase in young voters is on account of the efforts made by district election officers in all 33 districts in Telangana, said an official statement from the CEO on Tuesday, 19 September.
The gender ratio, however, was a matter of some concern as it was 717 females for every 1,000 males. The release said district election officers were doing their best to improve the ratio and bring it to comparable levels with the overall gender ratio of voters, which stands at a healthy 994 females for every 1,000 males.
The total number of voters in the electoral roll was 3.13 crore, with 1.57 crore male electors, 1.56 crore female electors, and 2,226 electors belonging to the third gender.
Also read: Telangana CEO chalks out plan to stem flow of cash, liquor, drugs
Updating the electoral rolls
The process of receipt of claims and objections during the second special summary revision of 2023 for enrolment of eligible citizens in the electoral roll (Form 6), deletion of dead and shifted voters from the electoral rolls (Form 7), and modification of details in the electoral roll (Form 8) was completed on Tuesday.
Up to Monday, 13.06 lakh applications for inclusion of names in the electoral roll, 6.26 lakh applications for removal of persons who have died or shifted, and 7.77 lakh applications for modification of details in the electoral rolls were received in Telangana.
Similarly, since January to date this year, 14.72 lakh people were added to the electoral rolls, the names of 3.39 lakh were deleted, and details were modified for 10.95 lakh people.
All the applications received till 10 September would be disposed of by 27 September, and the final roll published on 4 October.
Though the last date for submission of claims and objections as part of special summary revision is over, eligible citizens can continue to make applications for addition to the electoral roll, deletion from the electoral roll, or modification of details in the rolls.
These applications will continue to be disposed of as part of the process of continuous updation of the electoral rolls.
