Strange polling station names in 2002 SIR rolls puzzle Telangana voters
HYDERABAD: Voters in Telangana have flagged unusual and nonsensical polling station names in the 2002 Special Intensive Revision (SIR) electoral rolls. The Election Commission of India now hosts these rolls on its website and uses them to map residents during the ongoing pre-SIR exercise.
As repoted by TOI, Voters searching for their names in the 2002 rolls said they were startled by the strange polling station names. A review of the rolls found entries such as “Singapore”, “For Pakistan”, “Slingshot”, “Cockatoo”, “Cashew Lizard”, “Bigfoot” and “Goat’s Nest”.
The rolls also listed phrases such as “for vegetarian”, “a new students”, “john-compete”, “find the pump-Skin”, “among the monkeys” and “while sleeping”. Officials recorded these names across all erstwhile districts of the state.
Residents question accuracy of legacy rolls
Residents said the unusual names made it hard to verify whether the rolls included their names or those of their parents and grandparents.
“I struggled for a week to find my name in the 2002 roll under Chevella constituency. When I saw the polling station names, I was shocked. I couldn’t recognise many of them despite living in the city since I was 14,” said Satya Narayana, a resident of Ranga Reddy district.
“They hardly make sense. How does the Election Commission expect cooperation when the list is full of mistakes?” he asked.
Ajay R, a voter from Wardhannapet constituency, said he encountered entries such as “lazy”, “bite” and “worry” during his search.
“I don’t understand how officials treated these as polling station names. This shows they did no due diligence while preparing the electoral rolls. It’s unfortunate that they now use it to sanitise electoral rolls in the country,” he said. Ajay was a minor in 2002.
ECI portal notes spelling variations
The ECI’s Voters’ Service Portal carries a disclaimer in red. It states that spelling may vary between the last SIR details and the current details in 2025. It advises users to try different variations of names if they do not find an exact match. For example, users searching for Maneesh can also try Manish.
The portal states that the Commission hosted the data as it received it from state chief electoral officers. It did not modify the data.
Officials promise examination of discrepancies
Some Electoral Registration Officers said they were surprised by the anomalies. They said they would examine the rolls and flag discrepancies for correction.
“Booth-level officers will report such errors. So far, no one has formally flagged this issue during the pre-SIR exercise,” said K Partha Simha Reddy, Electoral Registration Officer, Chevella constituency.
Telangana Chief Electoral Officer C Sudharshan Reddy declined to comment, as reported by TOI.
