The Telugu Desam Party (TDP) has urged the Election Commission not to conduct the special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in its current form, becoming the first NDA ally to object to the exercise that is currently underway in Bihar.

A six-member TDP delegation led by its Andhra Pradesh president Palla Srinivasa Rao met the EC and submitted a memorandum demanding, among other things, that "the exercise is not related to citizenship verification".

The EC maintains that it is constitutionally empowered to ensure that only Indian citizens are enrolled as voters, and has thereby designed a revision exercise that achieves the objective through the verification of documentary proof rather than self-declaration.

Opposition parties have pointed out that most electors do not have the required documents as demanded by the poll panel.

The TDP has also voiced that concern. "The purpose of the SIR must be clearly defined and limited to electoral roll correction and inclusion," the TDP said.

“It should be explicitly communicated that the exercise is not related to citizenship verification, and any field instructions must reflect this distinction,” it added.

The TDP prefaced its demands saying: "As Andhra Pradesh is not due for Assembly elections until 2029, the Telugu Desam Party recognises that any future SIR provides a valuable opportunity to ensure that the electoral rolls are updated in a fair, inclusive and transparent manner. In this regard, the following considerations are respectfully submitted to guide such a process and request you to start the process in the state as early as possible."

The party also questioned the logic behind the exercise. “Voters who are already enrolled in the most recent certified electoral roll should not be required to re-establish their eligibility unless specific and verifiable reasons are recorded…. The burden of proof lies with the ERO (electoral registration officer) or objector, not the voter, especially when the name exists in the official rolls,” it said.

The party said the SIR should ideally not be conducted within six months of any major election "to ensure voter confidence and administrative preparedness".

"SIRs should deploy mobile BLO (booth-level officers) units and accept temporary address declarations to prevent exclusion of migrant workers and displaced families,” it proposed.

The EC has put the onus on migrants to get themselves enrolled in the Bihar voters' list before July 25 or risk being deleted from the rolls.

The poll panel’s media release on the meeting with the TDP made no mention of the demands raised by the party.