Mumbai: A day after BJP leader and revenue minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule claimed that no new voters would be registered for 20 years once the draft voters’ list is published on August 17, the Election Commission (EC) on Monday clarified that registration of voters is an ongoing process and citizens can register as voters anytime, including after publication of the draft voters’ list.
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While addressing a rally in Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar on Sunday, Bawankule said that people would not have the opportunity to register as voters for 20 years once the August 17 deadline expired.
“If you are thinking that your name is in the existing roll and it will continue to be in the list, it is not true. August 17 is the last opportunity to register your name in electoral rolls. After that, if your name is not registered, you will not get any government benefits including free ration, and schemes implemented by the social justice and the women and child welfare departments. Admitting children to schools and colleges would also be difficult,” Bawankule said in his speech.
The minister also stated that since voter IDs were expected to be linked with Aadhaar, citizens whose names did not appear in electoral rolls would be deprived of all welfare schemes. “You will have your own home, but no government schemes,” he said.
After video clips of the speech were shared widely on social media, the office of the chief electoral officer, who represents EC in the state, issued a clarification on Monday.
“Voters whose names do not appear in the draft roll, as well as new eligible voters, will be able to apply for inclusion using Form 6 between August 17 and September 16, 2026. During this period, voters can also seek corrections or deletion of entries through the prescribed forms, while objections to any entry may be filed using Form 7. The final electoral roll after the SIR will be published on October 19. Even after publication of the final roll, eligible citizens can continue to apply for inclusion or correction of entries under the continuous updation process until the last date for filing nominations for any election,” chief election commissioner’s office said.
