{
  "id": 15419121,
  "title": "SIR is a de novo exercise and due procedure was followed, says Telangana Chief Electoral Officer",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/18/sir-is-a-de-novo-exercise-and-due-procedure-was-followed-says",
  "topic": "health",
  "section": "Health & Medicine",
  "published": "2026-10-18T13:38:24.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "The Hindu",
    "slug": "the-hindu",
    "url": "https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/telangana/sir-is-a-de-novo-exercise-and-due-procedure-was-followed-says-telangana-chief-electoral-officer/article71597109.ece"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Chief Electoral Officer C. Sudarshan Reddy clarified that the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) is a de novo exercise, undertaken to cleanse the electoral roll. He disputed a report by The Hindu stating that the SIR involved bulk deletion of 'Absent, Shifted, Dead, Duplicate' (ASDD) voters without following due procedure. Reddy emphasized that a de novo preparation of electoral rolls means starting from scratch, creating a completely new voter list, instead of simply updating or modifying an existing one. Unlike special summary revisions, de novo revisions discard the existing list, aiming to reach out to every eligible individual to re-establish their identity and place of residence. The 2002 SIR in Telangana was conducted using this method, with Booth Level Officers (BLOs) conducting door-to-door surveys and enrolling voters. Post-de novo exercises, enumeration forms are distributed by BLOs; those not returned are marked as ASDD categories after verification and are excluded from draft rolls. Reddy explained that the ASDD categories are displayed on ERO and AERO offices, as well as the CEO and DEO websites, and shared with political parties. However, he did not respond to queries about why the 2025 rolls were based on previous ones, even though it was a de novo exercise. Users on X challenged this, claiming that BLOs had not conducted home visits. Reddy clarified that ASDD lists were available on websites and at BLO and ERO levels, and individuals could file Form 6 if wrongly marked. The Hindu reported that over 73 lakh voters were deleted from the ASDD list through auto-generated Form-7s on ERONET software, without proper deletion procedures, as BLOs had not engaged in home visits.",
  "summary": "The officer, however, failed to explain why 2025 rolls were taken as the basis for distribution of enumeration forms",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 2,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "The Hindu",
        "title": "Foreign forces backing ‘vote theft’ campaign, alleges Telangana BJP chief",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/18/foreign-forces-backing-vote-theft-campaign-alleges-telangana-bjp-chief",
        "published": "2026-10-18T10:59:48.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}