Graduate MLC voter enrolment closes on Friday, 6 November with 3.84 lakh of 4.67 lakh forms still pending in Mahabubnagar-Rangareddy-Hyderabad

Graduates in Hyderabad, Rangareddy, Mahabubnagar and six other districts have until Friday, 6 November to get on the graduate MLC voter roll, and the officials checking their forms are well behind. The Mahabubnagar-Rangareddy-Hyderabad Graduates’ constituency has received 4,67,538 applications, and 3,84,649 of them, or 82.27 per cent, were still undecided in the latest enrolment figures.

Only 80,982 forms have been accepted so far and 1,907 rejected. Another 56,158 have not yet cleared the first stage of processing. Nearly all of them came in online: 4,66,750 against just 788 filed on paper.

City districts carry the biggest pile

The pile is deepest in and around the city. In Medchal-Malkajgiri, 99,103 out of 1,09,161 forms are pending, or 90.79 per cent. Hyderabad district still has 61,605 of 71,586 open. Rangareddy, the largest contributor with 1,20,197 forms, has 99,832 left to clear. Nagarkurnool is furthest ahead, with 62.82 per cent pending and 12,831 of 35,614 forms accepted.

R.V. Karnan, the Hyderabad District Election Officer, has appealed to residents’ welfare associations, gated communities, universities and other educational institutions to let Booth Level Officers and other staff in to verify Form-18 applications. He said officials had run into restrictions at some establishments, which was slowing the checks.

Who must apply, and how

Because the rolls for both seats, Mahabubnagar-Rangareddy-Hyderabad and Warangal-Khammam-Nalgonda, are being prepared from a clean slate, a graduate who voted in a past council election still has to submit a new Form-18. To qualify, the applicant must have passed a degree or an equivalent exam by 1 November 2023 and must reside in the constituency. Officials go by the passing date printed in the marks memo or the provisional certificate; the convocation date does not matter. There is no need to apply in the old Medak, Nizamabad, Adilabad and Karimnagar districts, whose graduates’ seat held its election in 2025.

Applications go in online through ceotelangana.nic.in, or on paper with the Electoral Registration Officer or the Assistant Electoral Registration Officer, by hand or by post. A form written on plain paper will be refused. The original degree certificate has to be shown for verification; otherwise a gazetted officer must attest the copy that is attached. Giving Aadhaar is optional, and C. Sudarshan Reddy, the Chief Electoral Officer, has stated that an EPIC number is not required either.

The Congress and the BRS have both asked for more time, but the published schedule still lists 6 November as the last date. The draft rolls are due on 25 November, claims and objections will be taken until 10 December, and the final rolls come out on 30 December. The terms of the two sitting members end on 29 March 2027.