NEW DELHI: Delhi CM Rekha Gupta, ex-CM Arvind Kejriwal and his family members, and some other netas have been served notices as part of the SIR over “discrepancies” in their voter details. While Kejriwal, his father, mother, wife and son have received notices for being unmapped with 2002 SIR, CM Gupta has got it for “age difference” of less than 15 years with her parents in voter records.
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Former Delhi BJP chief Virendra Sachdeva, his wife and brother have also been issued notices over “self-name mismatch”, which EC says is a logical discrepancy. The office of electoral registration officer of Shalimar Bagh Saturday said the CM was identified in the list of logical discrepancies and issued notice in accordance with EC SOPs.Physical field verification was conducted by the designated booth level officer (BLO). Following due verification of facts and documents provided by the elector, the entry for CM Rekha Gupta, has been validated and parked for inclusion in the final electoral roll of AC–14 (Shalimar Bagh), scheduled for official publication on Nov 4, 2026,” the ERO office stated in a statement.Kejriwal and his family are registered voters in KG Marg area of New Delhi constituency while Gupta is a registered voter in Shalimar Bagh in North Delhi. Sachdeva is a registered voter in Mayur Vihar area under Trilokpuri constituency where he has been voting for the last 25 years.AAP, in a statement, asked how the names of an ex-CM and his family could disappear from the electoral rolls and questioned whether the voter-list exercise was being used to remove the names of opposition leaders.“Is everything happening in this country just to keep the Supreme Lord happy? Election Commission, how is it possible that the names of three-time Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal and his family members are missing from the Delhi voter list?” AAP said in a post on X. Election officials, however, categorically denied the charges. “The names of Kejriwal and his family members are still there in the draft electoral roll,” said an official.Office of the electoral registration officer, New Delhi, said: “In case of Arvind Kejriwal and his family, the submitted enumeration forms were not complete in terms of details which would have enabled linkage of themselves with the electoral roll of last revision of respective states….consequently notices are being issued to the electors…” The poll panel said that such electors (Kejriwal and his family) will have to submit reply/requisite documents to the ERO upon receipt of notices and their disposal will be done by Oct 29. Kejriwal used to live in Ghaziabad before he became the CM.Meanwhile, EC sources said on Saturday that the notices to Kejriwal and his family members as well as to CM Gupta are part of a standard procedure followed where an elector fails to map himself to the electoral roll from last SIR or enters incorrect details in his SIR enumeration form. “All that an elector who receives an SIR notice on these grounds needs to do is to provide the necessary documents or details mapping himself to the last SIR roll or to seek a correction in his SIR enumeration form,” a senior EC official told TOI.Once these formalities are completed, the elector on notice will be added back to the roll if his documents are found in order. “If at all the paperwork is not in order, the electoral registration officer (ERO) concerned must issue a speaking order, clearly listing reasons for deleting his name in the final roll,” said the EC officer.The officer, however, clarified that the ERO’s decision is still not final and subject to a two-stage appeal process. If the aggrieved is not satisfied with the ERO’s decision to exclude him from the final electoral roll, he may file an appeal before the district magistrate or district electoral officer concerned. If still not satisfied with the DEO’s order, the elector can challenge the DEO’s decision before the chief electoral officer.As reported by TOI on Sept 2, so far over 31.6 lakh voters of the 97.5 lakh voters whose names appeared in the draft SIR list have been issued notices with more than half of them being flagged for logical discrepancies, including mismatches in names and inconsistencies in age or family details.Meanwhile, the election office said registered voters whose houses were demolished recently in Delhi forcing them to shift from their registered addresses will be registered as voters. The Delhi CEO office has directed district authorities to organise camps near the sites where demolitions took place and encourage the voters to submit claims for inclusion in the voters list. Special camps will be organised on Sept 20 and 27 at all the polling station locations for inclusion of voters.
