Telangana sees 5.8% rise in number of voters, taking total to over 3.17 crore

Hyderabad:With the increase of 17,42,470 voters starting this year, the State witnessed a rise of 5.8 per cent in voters in the overall numbers, totalling 3,17,17,389. The gender ratio touched 998, from the earlier 992, while 532,990 voters aged 18–19 years were enrolled this year. The final electoral rolls were published on Wednesday, after the completion of the second special summary revision (SSR) by the Election Commission. Of over 3.17 crore voters men and women voters are 1,58,71,493 and 1,58,43,339 respectively, while 2,557 belong to the third gender. There are 15,338 service electors and 2,780 overseas electors. The gender ratio in the 18-19 age group has improved from 707 to 743. Overall, it stands at 998, from earlier 992. There are 443,943 voters who are aged above 80; 5,06,493 PwDs (persons with disabilities). The number of third gender increased to 2,557. “It is important to note that though the final rolls have been published, the exercise of their continuous updation will continue. All eligible persons (those who have completed 18 years of age on October 1 this year and who are otherwise eligible) who could not make an application for enrolment earlier are once again requested to apply for inclusion in the roll,” informed officials. As part of the process to cleanse the voter list, a total of 22,02,168 dead, duplicate and shifted voters have been removed. As many as 489,574 of the voters are from the GHMC and surrounding areas. Further 2,47,756 dead voters have also been deleted from the electoral rolls this year. “A remarkable achievement of the present SSR is enrolment of 532,990 18–19-year voters from January 6 till September 28. As a result, the rolls have 811,640 new voters. This constitutes 2.56 per cent of the electoral rolls. Never in the past was this percentage achieved. This was achieved by identifying 18+ citizens in their colleges through a dedicated AERO and by other methods like obtaining a list of students who appeared in X exam from 2019 till 2022,” the officials added. Final voter list has more than actual voters: Congress Meanwhile, the Congress, which had requested for postponement of the publication citing discrepancies, criticised the development. “It is unfortunate that the Election Commission today published the final voters list despite our objections. The Congress yesterday during its meeting with EC in Hyderabad requested postponement of publication of the final voter list,” said G Niranjan, TPCC senior vice-president&chairman, Election Commission Coordination committee. He said the party had submitted in detail discrepancies in voter list. The final list announced today certainly comprises anomalies. The final voters list of 3,17,17,389 voters published today is in fact more than the actual voters in State. The party will conduct a survey on the final voter list, find discrepancies and move the High Court for justice,” he said.