As many as 31.35%, or 2.12 million, of 6.78 million electors in Mumbai are expected to get notices as they were either unmapped or were found to have anomalies in their names, age, etc during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR). They face exclusion if they fail to submit the required documents.
The SIR in West Bengal was one of the most contentious in recent years. The difference in absolute votes the BJP and the Trinamool Congress (TMC) polled was similar to the total SIR deletions. The TMC has maintained that the deletions helped the BJP win West Bengal elections.
In May, the ECI announced Phase 3 of SIR in Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Chandigarh, Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu, Haryana, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Delhi, Odisha, Punjab, Sikkim, Tripura, Telangana, and Uttarakhand. On April 10, ECI announced the deletion of nearly nine million from the electoral roll. The BJP, which swept to power in the state for the first time, winning 207 of 294 seats, has rejected this link.
Out of these, around 2.7 million deletions fell under the “logical discrepancy” category.
The official added that documents will have to be provided for the anomalies in names and electoral details. The state election office said 7.68 million voters were reported to have permanently shifted, 7.55 million were absent, 3.48 million were deceased, and 1.76 million were registered at more than one constituency. Another 223,000 refused to register despite being found at their addresses. The Mumbai district electoral officer said 32,037 voters have anomalies in their details and need to rectify them to retain themselves on the electoral roll; 1.39 million were unmapped as they have not been able to produce their records from the 2004 SIR. He said 968 assistant electoral registration officers (710 in the suburbs and 258 in the city) will conduct the hearings.
Opposition parties have demanded an extension to the time for claims and objections. He added more anomalies have been found in Muslim areas and they should be given fair opportunities. “We have also written to the authorities to publish the booth-wise details of anomalies and unmapped electors so that electors are aware of them.
Authorities should also announce their categories and increase the number of officers and offices for the hearings,” said Mumbai Congress leader Sandesh Kondvilkar.
