Only around 23,000 people, or about 0.7% of the 3.16 million people issued notices in Delhi over mapping or logical discrepancies, have successfully navigated their special intensive revision (SIR) hearings and confirmed their place in the final roll so far, officials said on Monday.
The draft list, published on August 31, shed nearly a third of the Capital’s voters and included 9.75 million names. Their hearings will continue until October 29 and the final roll will be out on November 4. Separately, election authorities received 84,263 applications for inclusion of names between August 31 and September 19 using Form 6, filed by new electors. The last date of submitting Form 6 – which can be used by the people who were not included in the draft roll, or others – is September 30. People whose names have been dropped from the final voter roll after the hearings can reapply using Form 6. Delhi BJP president Harsh Malhotra directed the party’s teams overseeing the SIR exercise and all BLAs to provide legal assistance to all those who have received notices from the election office, while also helping them fill Form 6 to get their votes newly registered or renewed. The draft rolls for the national capital published on August 31 shaved off a third of voters, listing 9.75 million names, a drop from 14.5 million as of the June 30 roll. Among the six metro cities – Mumbai , Delhi, Kolkata , Chennai, Bengaluru, and Hyderabad – Delhi’s 32.8% deletions at the draft stage were the second lowest.
The large number of deletions and discrepancy notices has triggered a political row, especially after Delhi chief minister Rekha Gupta , former chief minister Arvind Kejriwal , former deputy prime minister LK Advani , external affairs minister S Jaishankar, and election commissioner SS Sandhu were among those served notices. The Election Commission of India has clarified that issuing a notice does not mean a voter’s name will be deleted from the electoral roll. “What started as SIR from Bihar has now knocked on Delhi’s door, and perhaps now the powers-that-be are realizing why the Congress party has been calling the entire process flawed from day one! SIR is not just a tool used by the BJP for vote theft and dismantling democracy—it’s a flawed process that has turned into a Frankenstein monster, now trapping its own people!!
Among the names included, 3.16 million people were flagged under two categories — “no mapping” and “logical discrepancies” — and issued notices. Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge said.
