BLOs to knock on every door as SIR 2026 begins in Telangana

BLOs will visit the homes of all registered voters and provide enumeration forms containing voter details, addresses and photographs.

Hyderabad: Telangana woke up on Thursday, June 25, to the start of one of the most significant electoral exercises in recent years. The Special Intensive Revision (SIR) 2026 of electoral rolls officially got underway, with Booth Level Officers (BLO) fanning out across the state to verify, update and clean up voter lists, one household at a time.

What is the SIR and why does it matter?

The SIR is a comprehensive, ground-up revision of electoral rolls ordered by the Election Commission of India (ECI). Its twin goals are to weed out names that no longer belong on the rolls – deceased voters, those who have permanently shifted, duplicates and non-citizens – and ensure that every eligible citizen who should be on the list, is. 

Telangana is part of SIR Phase-III, the ECI’s nationwide rollout covering 16 states and three Union Territories, announced in May this year. The Supreme Court, in a ruling last month, upheld the exercise as legally sound and constitutionally grounded under Article 324 and the Representation of the People Act, 1950.

BLOs at your door? Here’s what to expect

The heart of the exercise is a door-to-door enumeration drive that runs from June 25 until July 24. Each BLO has been assigned roughly 800 to 1,000 electors and will visit households multiple times, expect three to four visits, to distribute partially pre-filled enumeration forms and collect them once filled. The forms carry each voter’s details, address and photograph.

One detail worth noting is that BLOs will hand out two forms per voter. So, if a household has four registered voters, eight forms come through the door. It’s the process, and getting both copies filled and returned matters.

“BLOs are required to visit every household, distribute enumeration forms and collect them,” C Sudarshan Reddy, Telangana’s Chief Electoral Officer, told Siasat.com, laying out the ground rules clearly.

You can also do this online

Voters who prefer not to wait for BLO visits can submit their enumeration forms digitally through the ECI app or at voters.eci.in. Forms submitted online are received directly at the concerned polling station or Electoral Registration Officer (ERO) level. That said, offline forms submitted to the BLO remain equally valid.

For Non-Resident Indians (NRI), the process has been kept accessible. NRIs can fill the form online themselves or have a family member complete and sign it before handing it over to the BLO.

The timeline ahead

The draft electoral roll will be published on July 31, followed by a claims and objections period during which eligible citizens can apply for inclusion using Form 6, correct existing entries or report other issues. The final electoral roll is set to be published on October 1, 2026, which is the qualifying date for the exercise.

On anomalies and documents

A point that may ease some anxieties is that no documents are required at the enumeration stage. If anomalies are found in a voter’s details, a formal notice will be issued during a designated notice period and the voter will be given an opportunity to respond. 

The ECI has provided a list of indicative documents that may be sought at that point, but EROs are empowered to accept other government-issued documents as well, and the final call rests with them.

Logical discrepancies and anomalies are treated the same way, Reddy clarified, with each ERO given the flexibility to deploy available manpower and resolve cases within the two-month notice period.

For voters who need to establish lineage, the 2002 electoral roll data can be used to map relations with parents or maternal and paternal grandparents.

What if your name gets deleted?

EROs are required to give reasons for any rejection. From there, a voter can appeal to the District Electoral Officer, and if needed, escalate further to the Chief Electoral Officer.

Will it wrap up on time?

Some political parties have raised doubts about whether the exercise — especially given the ongoing monsoon season — can realistically be concluded by October 1. Reddy pointed to the track record from the 12 states where SIR has already been carried out, saying most completed the process within the stipulated timeline and those that didn’t needed only a 15-day extension at most. 

Any decision on an extension, he noted, would rest with the ECI.

For now, the process is on, and the first knock on your door could come sooner than you think.