Panaji: The booth-level officer (BLO) visited us three times and could have asked for additional info, said former chief of naval staff Admiral Arun Prakash on Sunday after the Election Commission of India (ECI) served the 82-year-old a notice in Goa seeking additional documents.
The former naval chief, a war veteran and Vir Chakra awardee who settled in Goa around 20 years ago after retirement, was marked as an “unmapped voter” during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral rolls.
“I neither need, nor have ever asked for any special privileges since retirement 20 years ago. My wife & I had filled the SIR forms as reqd and were pleased to see our names figured in the Goa Draft Electoral Roll 2026 on the Election Commission (EC) website. We will, however, comply with EC notices,” he said on X.
He said that he and his wife (78) have been asked to appear on two different dates, 18 km away.
“May I point out to @ECIVEEP that (a) if the SIR forms are not evoking reqd info they should be revised; (b) the BLO visited us 3 times & could have asked for additional info; (c) we are an 82/78 yr old couple & have been asked to appear on 2 different dates 18 km away!! (sic),” he said.
The notices, he added, reflect a broader pattern affecting retired armed forces personnel who, over the years, have held multiple postings and shifted homes several times during their careers, leading them to be flagged during the ongoing SIR exercise.
{{/usCountry}}The notices, he added, reflect a broader pattern affecting retired armed forces personnel who, over the years, have held multiple postings and shifted homes several times during their careers, leading them to be flagged during the ongoing SIR exercise.
{{/usCountry}}Earlier, former Navy captain and Congress South Goa MP Viriato Fernandes was served a similar notice after being flagged as “unmapped”.
Goa is one of the states where the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) is being conducted. The previous SIR was held in the state in 2002, and all voters currently enumerated as part of the ongoing SIR exercise who cannot point to their name, or the name of a parent or relative, listed in the SIR list of 2002 are categorised as ‘unmapped’ voters and issued notices to provide documents concerning their citizenship.
The ongoing SIR exercise has, to date, identified and removed 100,042 names from the draft roll, marking a deletion percentage of 8.44%. Out of an initial electorate of 1,185,034, enumeration forms were collected from 1,084,992 electors, amounting to 91.56% coverage. The draft roll flagged 25,574 electors as deceased, 72,471 as shifted or absent, and 1,997 as enrolled at multiple places, chief Electoral Officer Sanjay Goel said.
Goa goes to the polls in early 2027.