Mumbai, Thane may see up to 30% names being deleted from draft electoral rolls

Both Mumbai and Thane have recorded ‘uncollectible’ enumeration forms for up to 36% electors, as they could not be traced when booth-level officers (BLOs) visited their registered addresses. Accordingly, these electors have been placed under the ASDD (absent, shifted, dead and duplicate) category

Mumbai: With enumeration for the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Mumbai and Thane remaining well below the state average, at least 30% electors from the two cities are likely to be deleted when the draft electoral rolls are published later this month.

Mumbai, Thane may see up to 30% names being deleted from draft electoral rolls

Both Mumbai and Thane have recorded ‘uncollectible’ enumeration forms for up to 36% electors, as they could not be traced when booth-level officers (BLOs) visited their registered addresses. Accordingly, these electors have been placed under the ASDD (absent, shifted, dead and duplicate) category.

Based on the enumeration figures, Election Commission officials estimate that at least 2.5 million of the 10.36 million electors in Mumbai and more than 1.8 million of the 7.45 million electors in Thane could be dropped from the draft electoral rolls.

“We are in the last leg of the SIR drive and expect the enumeration phase to end on August 17, as per the extended deadline. The overall state percentage of untraceable electors is 15%, with the highest, at 36%, being in Mumbai and Thane. In some districts with high rural population, the proportion of untraceable electors is just 2%,” said an official from the Mumbai Collector’s office.

Since those under the ASDD category are unlikely to be traced, the names of more than 30% of the existing electors in Mumbai and Thane are expected to be deleted when the draft rolls are published later this month, the official noted.

Across Maharashtra, the deletion percentage is likely to be 12-15%, which would mean that at least 14.76 million electors out of a total of 97.85 million electors, as of June 30, could be deleted from the electoral rolls.

An official from the Election Commission said that BLOs have now been directed to conduct panchnamas so that the missing electors can be declared untraceable at their given residential addresses.

“Most of the untraceable electors are from big cities, particularly from slums, slum settlements and chawls under redevelopment, and areas such as defence and railway colonies where shifting is common. In Thane, the number of untraceable voters is high because there is a high floating population and BLOs have faced difficulties in meeting residents as they travel to Mumbai daily and return home late,” the Election Commission official said.

Thus far, enumeration has reached 63.08% in Mumbai suburban, 61.33% in Mumbai city and 57.07% in Thane, while the state average is 77.53%.

Political parties, however, allege that BLOs have not made adequate efforts to trace missing electors and have started preparing panchnamas instead.

“I have written to the Chief Electoral Officer raising concerns over BLOs not reaching out to many slums and hutments in areas such as Gilbert Hill, Magathane and Malvani. We have requested them not to conduct panchnamas in haste and, instead, try to reach out to the people. Given the current situation, over 30% voters are expected to be deleted from the electoral rolls when they are published on August 24,” said Mumbai Congress leader and in-charge of SIR for the party, Sandesh Kondvilkar.

Manohar Parkar, Joint Chief Electoral Officer, Maharashtra, said BLOs had been directed to make all efforts to ensure that no eligible elector is left out of the draft electoral roll.

“We have also asked them to coordinate with the booth-level agents appointed by political parties to trace the voters,” Parkar said.