Telangana election officials have rejected 1,581 applications during scrutiny for enrolment as graduate voters in the Mahabubnagar–Rangareddy–Hyderabad and Warangal–Khammam–Nalgonda Graduates’ Constituencies, citing ineligible qualifications and suspected fake certificates.
The scrutiny is being conducted ahead of the graduate constituency electoral process, with officials applying the eligibility requirement that applicants must have obtained a degree or equivalent qualification at least three years before the qualifying date. For the current exercise, the qualifying date is November 1, 2026, meaning the degree or equivalent qualification must have been obtained on or before October 31, 2023.
Officials in the Telangana Chief Electoral Officer’s office said some applicants submitted their forms even though their degree results were declared and certificates were issued after the cut-off date. However, applications may still be considered valid if applicants can establish that their degree results were declared on or before October 31, 2023, even when the certificates were received later.
The two constituencies together received 5,23,758 applications. Of these, 26,085 had been approved and 4,96,112 remained pending verification as of Saturday, according to the report. The figures indicate that the majority of applications had not yet completed scrutiny when the latest status was reported.
In the Mahabubnagar–Rangareddy–Hyderabad Graduates’ Constituency, officials received 2,29,937 applications. A total of 4,695 were approved, 129 were rejected and 2,25,133 were awaiting scrutiny. The constituency covers a large urban and peri-urban region that includes Hyderabad and surrounding districts.
The Warangal–Khammam–Nalgonda Graduates’ Constituency recorded 2,93,821 applications. Of these, 21,390 were approved, 1,452 were rejected and 2,70,979 remained to be examined. The higher number of rejections reported from this constituency includes cases in which officials identified qualification-related problems or suspected document fraud.
The Telangana Chief Electoral Officer’s office has deployed specialised software to identify discrepancies and flag applications suspected of containing fake certificates. Officials have not indicated that every flagged application represents a confirmed instance of fraud, and applicants may need to provide additional documentation during the verification process.
Applicants can submit registrations online through the Chief Electoral Officer’s website or file Form-18 in person with Electoral Registration Officers, Assistant Electoral Registration Officers, designated officers or additional designated officers. The deadline for submission is November 6. Applicants are required to provide the prescribed documents and educational certificates in support of their applications.
The ongoing scrutiny places the focus on the administrative task of verifying a large volume of graduate voter applications within a limited period. The next steps will depend on the examination of the pending applications and on whether applicants can establish that their qualifications met the October 31, 2023 cut-off date.
