Telangana Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy, speaking to reporters on Monday, alleged that the Modi-led administration, concerned about its electoral standing, had directed Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar to deploy the Special Intensive Revision process as a mechanism for removing approximately 20 crore voter registrations belonging to individuals perceived as opponents of Modi and the BJP.
He further alleged that the governing alliance was deliberately constructing a two-tier electorate — one in which its more prosperous constituents faced no barriers to voting, and another in which adivasis, Dalits, Girijans, and minority communities encountered obstacles to participation — and contended that those outside the coalition's political base stood at risk of being treated as second-class citizens. The party is alleged to be consolidating voter support ahead of the upcoming election in a bid to extend its hold on government.
At a press briefing held at Telangana Bhavan in New Delhi, Revanth alleged that Prime Minister Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, and Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar were exploiting the Special Intensive Revision process as a mechanism for electoral manipulation.
Revanth Reddy joined Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee president Mahesh Kumar Goud, along with ministers, parliamentarians, legislators, Congress district presidents, and corporation chairpersons from Telangana, in a procession from Barakhamba to the Supreme Court alongside Rahul Gandhi and other All India Congress Committee and INDIA alliance leaders. The procession called for the removal of Gyanesh Kumar from his post. Revanth stated that Rahul Gandhi was leading a movement to protect the voting rights of Dalit, adivasi, minority, and marginalised communities as enshrined in the Constitution by B.R. Ambedkar.
The allegation put forward was that the party secured state-level victories in contests it would not otherwise have prevailed in, absent the Special Intensive Revision process. Critics also contended that tensions along religious and regional lines were fanned by BJP actions rather than addressed.
Allegations arose that central agencies — including the CBI, the Income Tax department, the Enforcement Directorate, and the Narcotics Bureau — had been deployed for purposes beyond their mandated functions. Legislation to reshape the body tasked with appointing the Chief Election Commissioner was put forward by the governing party, which had concluded through its own internal assessment that the electoral landscape was unlikely to work in its favour.
The ruling party's decision to exclude the Chief Justice of India from the selection committee and replace that seat with the Union Home Minister drew an accusation from Revanth that the Election Commission of India was being exploited for partisan ends.
Revanth questioned how voter rolls could shrink against a backdrop of population growth, citing official tallies that placed registered electors at 81 crore ahead of the 2014 polls, 91 crore before the 2019 contest, and 97 crore going into 2024. He noted that approximately 130 million voter records had been removed from the rolls, and contended that a total population surpassing 140 crore ought to have translated into a voter roll exceeding 100 crore.
Revanth further contended that the Special Intensive Revision procedure was being deployed to locate and remove votes unfavourable to the BJP. The claim put forward was that ballots belonging to young people who express opposition to Prime Minister Modi on social media platforms were being discarded.
