New Delhi: Thirteen of Delhi’s 70 assembly constituencies have witnessed the deletion of over 40% of their registered voters from draft electoral rolls prepared under Special Intensive Revision (SIR).Tenants and migrant workers shifting houses have emerged as key factors behind this in the 13 seats: Tughlakabad (names of 47.8% voters deleted), Okhla (45.2%), RK Puram (44.4%), Kasturba Nagar (43.9%), Kalkaji (42.7%), Badarpur (42.5%), New Delhi at (41.6%), Jangpura (41.4%), Mehrauli (41%), Patel Nagar (40.7%), Sangam Vihar (40.7%), Karol Bagh (40.4%) and Patparganj (40%).The governing BJP said “every eligible voter” has been included on the draft rolls, while opposition AAP claimed booth-level officers (BLOs) in many places did not visit all voters and that the “entire SIR was a process of exclusion to strip the electors of their rights”.Southeast Delhi’s Tughlakabad, which has a mix of old village settlements, unauthorised neighbourhoods and dense lower- and middle-income neighbourhoods, reported the highest deletion rate in the city.South Delhi MP Ramvir Singh Bidhuri said many migrant workers shifting base to Noida, Faridabad and Gurgaon was the main reason. “The people whose names have been deleted should get their names added to the rolls,” he said.Though the deletion rate in Burari was considerably lower at 39.4%, in absolute numbers, it recorded the highest deletion, with the names of 1,67,885 out of 4,28,480 registered electors missing from the rolls as their enumeration forms were not submitted and thus couldn’t be verified.Burari MLA Sanjeev Jha of AAP said his party had pointed out that BLOs had not reached several areas properly. “Election Commission’s responsibility was to ensure that no citizen was deprived of their vote, but this entire process was meant to take away their right to vote,” said Jha, demanding that those missing from the rolls be immediately provided complete information on how to take remedial action.Sangam Vihar MLA Chandan Chaudhary of BJP said migration was a key reason for the high rate of deletion, with many people from Bihar not submitting enumeration forms in Delhi. Several residents also shifted to Noida and Gurgaon, he said, while also alleging that some of the voters did not receive the forms. He said the names of 10% to 15% of those excluded from the rolls are likely to be restored.RK Puram’s BJP MLA Anil Sharma said the rate of deletion was higher in upscale colonies than slum clusters. Many govt employees who had been transferred are not on the rolls, he said, adding that around 15,000 voters could be added after the claims and objections phases.Shakur Basti MLA Karnail Singh of BJP, whose constituency saw just the names of 18.7% voters deleted, said a comparatively lower number of migrant workers and unauthorised colonies was behind the higher rate of retention of electors. “We also created adequate awareness about SIR,” he said.The Delhi CEO’s office said all deletions had been carried out following a prescribed process. Election Commission has provided a window from Aug 31 to Sept 30 for voters whose names have been left out to file claims and objections.Political scientist Tanvir Aeijaz, who is an associate professor at Delhi University’s Ramjas College, said failure to restore the names of eligible voters can have significant political ramifications, affect electoral participation and undermine the health of democracy. “The process of filing claims and objections should be made simple,” he said.
