SIR exposing illegal voters, Congress spreading misinformation out of fear: Ramchander Rao

BJP State president N. Ramchander Rao on Monday claimed that the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls was ‘exposing a large number of illegal infiltrators’ and accused the Congress and INDIA bloc parties of spreading misinformation out of fear that ineligible names would be removed from voter lists.

Addressing party office bearers at the BJP State office, Mr. Rao alleged that during previous Congress regimes, illegal immigrants entered the country and managed to obtain ration cards and voter registration through ‘backdoor methods’. The current verification exercise was helping ‘identify and remove such names from electoral rolls’.

The BJP leader asserted that while the Constitution guarantees voting rights to every Indian citizen, foreign nationals, including illegal immigrants from countries such as Bangladesh and Myanmar, are not entitled to vote. In Maheshwaram Assembly constituency alone, around 30,000 Rohingya and other illegal voters were found — though he did not provide supporting data.

Accusing the Congress of adopting ‘double standards’, Mr. Rao said voter list revisions have long been a ‘routine process’ aimed at updating records and removing entries of people who have shifted to other places for employment or personal reasons. The BJP fully respects the Constitution and supports the voting rights of every Indian citizen above the age of 18, irrespective of religion, he claimed.

Mr. Rao also criticised the Congress for its ‘selective approach’ towards democratic institutions, praising Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) and the Election Commission (EC) when it wins elections, but questioning them after defeat. If the party genuinely believed recent elections were invalid, it should ask its own Chief Ministers, including Telangana Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy, to resign, he added.

Later, BJP general secretary N. Gautam Rao said party leaders reviewed the progress of the SIR exercise and the ongoing MLC voter registration drive. The party candidates for MLC elections was underway, with names to be shortlisted based on inputs from election management teams, opinion-gathering committees, and internal consultations before being sent to the central leadership for final approval. Voter enrolment campaign had been intensified at the booth level.

BJP Telangana president N. Ramchander Rao and BJP State co-incharge Abhay Patil during the BJP State Office Bearers meeting at BJP State Office, in Hyderabad on Monday (October 05, 2026) | Video Credit: SIDDHANT THAKUR