Delhi’s chief electoral officer has issued notices to nearly 33 lakh voters during the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, including chief minister Rekha Gupta, former chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, external affairs minister S Jaishankar and BJP veteran LK Advani.
Here are some of the prominent names on the list and why they received notices. The couple are voters in the Sunehri Bagh area of the New Delhi Assembly constituency. The notice-and-disposal process will continue until October 29, with the final electoral roll scheduled to be published on November 4.
Of the 33.13 lakh electors flagged, 19.33 lakh were categorised under “logical discrepancies”, while 13.79 lakh were listed under “no mapping”. External affairs minister S Jaishankar and his wife Kyoko Jaishankar have received notices under the “unmapped with last SIR” category. “No mapping” refers to cases where an elector’s details could not be linked with the electoral roll from the previous revision.
Jaishankar is among several senior government officials and prominent public figures whose names have appeared in the list of electors issued notices during the SIR exercise. Delhi chief minister Rekha Gupta was also issued a notice during the SIR exercise. Her entry was subsequently validated after verification of documents, and her name was kept for inclusion in the final electoral roll for the Shalimar Bagh constituency. Former Delhi chief minister and AAP national convenor Arvind Kejriwal and members of his family have also received notices. Kejriwal is among several prominent political figures whose names appeared in the list published by the Delhi CEO’s office. The notice is part of the verification process and does not by itself mean that the name will be removed from the electoral roll. Advani’s son Jayant, however, cleared the mapping exercise. All four are voters in the New Delhi Assembly constituency. Several other politicians, senior officials, lawyers, academics and public figures also appear in the list of electors who have received notices. Manish Sisodia: The former Delhi deputy chief minister received a notice, although the specific reason was not mentioned. His wife Moushumi Mishra Gahlot and daughter Jahnavi Gahlot were also issued notices under the same category. SS Sandhu: The Election Commissioner was issued a notice over a name mismatch. His son’s notice cited a mismatch in his parent’s name. Sandhu’s electoral entry was subsequently validated and kept for inclusion in the final roll. Jagdeep Dhankhar: The former vice-president and his wife Sudesh Dhankhar were among those issued notices. Their voter records carry the address of the vice-president’s residence. Subramanian Swamy: The former Union minister was among the prominent names flagged. Bansuri Swaraj: The BJP MP is also among the prominent electors whose names appeared on the notice list. Abhishek Manu Singhvi: The senior advocate and former Union minister was also listed among prominent voters issued notices. M Jagadesh Kumar: The former JNU vice-chancellor was among the officials and public figures whose names appeared in the list. Najeeb Jung: The former Delhi lieutenant governor was also issued a notice. Arvind Panagariya: The former NITI Aayog vice-chairman was among those flagged in the exercise. Tuhin Kanta Pandey: The SEBI chairman was also named in the list of voters issued notices. Upendra Dwivedi: The former Army chief was among the prominent names flagged during the revision. Praveen Sood: The CBI director was also listed among the prominent electors issued notices. Ashis Nandy: The psychologist and social theorist was among those issued notices in the Jangpura constituency. Indira Jaising and Anand Grover: The senior advocates were also among the prominent voters flagged in the Jangpura area. Dilip Cherian: The communications consultant was also issued a notice. The discrepancies include mismatches in an elector’s own name or a parent’s name, unusual age differences between parents and children, and other inconsistencies in the information submitted in enumeration forms. The Delhi CEO’s office has stressed that receiving a notice does not mean an elector’s name will automatically be deleted. Voters can submit replies and supporting documents to the Electoral Registration Officer or Booth Level Officer. No name can be deleted without giving the voter an opportunity to be heard and issuing a proper order. After examining her documents and details, officials validated her electoral entry.
Gupta’s notice was linked to a discrepancy involving the age difference between her and her parents, which was found to be less than 15 years, according to election officials. Their names could not be linked with the 2002 SIR electoral roll. 13,79,785 electors could not be mapped with the previous SIR roll, while 19,33,134 were flagged for logical discrepancies, according to election authorities. Together, the two categories account for 33,12,919 electors. More than 33 lakh electors in Delhi have been identified under these categories.
Because they could not be mapped with the previous SIR electoral roll, their details were flagged.
BJP veteran and former deputy prime minister LK Advani, along with his daughter Pratibha and daughter-in-law Geetika, received notices under the “no mapping” category. A senior poll official said prominent voters who received notices would be facilitated in the process and their documents collected. Kapil Sibal: The Rajya Sabha MP and senior advocate was flagged under the “unmapped with last SIR” category. He has criticised the exercise and said the issue of voter names being removed could eventually reach the Supreme Court. His wife Seema was flagged for a “self-name mismatch”, while their son Meer was flagged for a “parent-name mismatch”. Kailash Gahlot: The BJP MLA and former Delhi minister was flagged under “no mapping”. Vikram Misri: The foreign secretary was issued a notice citing “unmapped with last SIR”. He said he was surprised by the development and indicated that he could challenge the matter legally. The Delhi electoral roll revision has identified two broad categories of discrepancies: “no mapping” and “logical discrepancies”. Earlier reporting noted: The notices have been issued as part of the Election Commission’s verification exercise, which has flagged voters under categories including “No Mapping” and “Logical Discrepancies”. The Delhi poll authorities said her name appeared in the list of discrepancies, following which a notice was issued, and physical verification was carried out.
Earlier reporting noted: From LK Advani to Rekha Gupta: Who are prominent faces to get SIR notices in Delhi Several prominent names, including Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta, veteran BJP leader L K Advani and AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal, have been served notices over discrepancies in their electoral details during Delhi’s ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voter rolls. Earlier reporting noted: Gupta’s case, however, has already been cleared.
