The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Sunday published draft electoral rolls for three states after the first phase of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR), with Sikkim accounting for the largest percentage of deletions at 8.01%, followed by Manipur at 7.58% and Odisha at 6.02%.
Of the draft rolls released on Sunday, in absolute terms, Odisha saw its roll contract the most, with 2.01 million voters deleted out of an initial list of 33.3 million. This was followed by Manipur, which lost 158,677 of 2.09 million voters, and then Sikkim, where 37,724 of 471,018 names were deleted.
To be sure, this is the first stage of the SIR exercise in these states that began on May 30. The process will now move to the claims and objections phase (July 5 to August 4), where eligible electors left out can apply for inclusion via Form 6, and objections can be raised against wrongful inclusions.
After this electoral registration officers and assistant electoral registration officers will scrutinise these claims and objections, hold hearings where required. The final rolls will be published on September 6.
Sunday’s rolls triggered a political firestorm in Odisha, as the exercise has across the country.
{{/usCountry}}Sunday’s rolls triggered a political firestorm in Odisha, as the exercise has across the country.
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The opposition Biju Janata Dal (BJD) that governed the state for 24 years till 2024, said the exclusions were disproportionately high.
“Not 20 lakh (two million), the names of over 27 lakh (2.7 million) voters were deleted from the lists. They have hidden the names of another 700,000 voters,” said BJD vice-president Debi Prasad Mishra
Senior BJP leader and MLA Babu Singh defended the SIR, asserting that no genuine voter’s name has been deleted from the list.
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Responding to the BJD’s allegations, Singh said “only duplicate entries and the names of deceased persons had been removed, adding that Bangladeshi voters would not be allowed to remain on the rolls. He further asserted that the Election Commission does not work for any political party”.
In Manipur, chief electoral officer (CEO) Arun Kumar Sinha, in a statement, said, “Nobody can remove anybody from the draft electoral roll unless he has been given an opportunity of hearing. Only after hearing and passing a speaking order can somebody’s name be deleted from the draft electoral roll.”
His Odisha counterpart RS Gopalan said, “When the SIR process started, there were 3.33 crore electors; 20 lakh have been deleted and we now have three crore voters remaining at this stage.”
“Citizens whose names have been omitted from the draft roll will have the opportunity to seek inclusion during the claims and objections period,” said Sikkim’s CEO Raj Kumar Yadav.