Kishan Reddy urges clean-up of electoral rolls, warns against obstruction

Union Minister for Coal and Mines G. Kishan Reddy on Sunday (May 17, 2026), asserted that the names of Rohingya or Bangladeshi nationals must be removed from electoral rolls during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise initiated by the Election Commission of India (ECI) in Telangana.

“I state this categorically: if the name of any individual who is not an Indian citizen appears on the voter list, authorities must verify and remove it,” he said and stated the BJP’s Booth Level Agents (BLAs) would fully cooperate with election officials in the process, hence other parties too should follow suit.

Addressing a press conference at the party’s State office, Mr. Reddy said no attempts to obstruct the EC’s work would be tolerated and also cautioned against any effort to intimidate government officials. “My appeal to citizens is to participate in the SIR and extend full cooperation,” he said.

He noted that BLAs have the authority to raise objections if ineligible names are not removed or if genuine voters are wrongly deleted. Questioning the opposition, he asked why the removal of alleged illegal immigrant votes “causes concern to Rahul Gandhi and the Congress party.”

Mr. Kishan Reddy accused both the BRS and Congress parties of adopting a “provocative and disparaging” stance towards officials involved in the revision exercise. He said all political parties should appoint booth-level agents and work constructively with the EC, and questioned whether the Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy had “lost faith” in his own administration by attributing motives to officials.

“Election officials conduct door-to-door verification, accompanied by party agents. Given this established process, attempts to discredit the system are unwarranted,” he said. The Union Minister also questioned why similar exercises in states such as Kerala and Tamil Nadu are viewed as proper, while those elsewhere are criticised.

He alleged that such criticism amounts to “malicious propaganda” against government officials. “This is not the first SIR exercise; similar revisions took place during previous Congress regimes without protest,” noted the BJP leader.

On fuel prices, Mr. Reddy attributed the increase to “global conflicts”, stating that the Centre had reduced excise duty while Telangana continued to impose among the highest state taxes on fuel. Therefore, he urged the State to reduce its roughly 35.2% levy.

Mr. Kishan Reddy also urged Congress ministers to focus on crop procurement and farmers’ issues instead of blaming the Centre. The crop insurance scheme is yet to be implemented, though Telangana currently boasts the highest grain production in the country.