BRS to approach ECI over Gulf NRIs’ voting rights during SIR process

BRS working president KT Rama Rao said the party would send a delegation to Delhi to raise concerns with the Election Commission over possible deletion of Gulf-based Telangana NRIs from voter rolls during the ongoing Special Intensive Revision of electoral lists

Hyderabad: To safeguard the voting rights of Telangana natives residing in Gulf countries for livelihood, the Bharat Rashtra Samithi will send a delegation to Delhi and pursue the matter with the Election Commission of India (ECI). BRS working president KT Rama Rao announced this in the wake of the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.

At a review meeting with senior leaders and Assembly constituency in-charges from the erstwhile Nizamabad district on Friday, Rama Rao said lakhs of Telangana NRIs had raised concerns that their names could be deleted from voter rolls during the SIR process. Hundreds of Gulf workers have already contacted sitting and former MLAs to express their apprehensions in this regard.

The BRS working president said the party delegation to Delhi would comprise senior party leaders along with MLAs and MPs. At the local level, booth-level agents appointed by the party for the SIR process will be directed to collect details of Gulf NRIs in their respective areas and coordinate efforts to prevent deletion of their names. He specifically asked public representatives and constituency in-charges from the undivided Nizamabad and Karimnagar districts to take special initiative on the issue.

Further, Rama Rao asked party leaders to use the ongoing membership drive to consolidate the party’s position in Nizamabad, which has been a BRS stronghold since the party’s inception. He directed that both the membership drive and the SIR process be handled systematically and rigorously.

BRS leaders from the undivided Nizamabad district briefed Rama Rao on the ground situation and exuded confidence that public dissatisfaction with the Congress government would help the BRS sweep the district in the next elections.