Delhi SIR draft roll out; 47.56 lakh names deleted
The Election Commission of India has removed 47.56 lakh names from Delhi's electoral rolls during a special revision drive. The Aam Aadmi Party has criticized the move as a population reduction tactic, while the BJP and election officials maintain the deletions are based on standard verification procedures.
Why it matters
Electoral roll integrity is fundamental to democratic legitimacy, and mass deletions often spark significant political controversy regarding voter disenfranchisement.
The names of 47.56 lakh (32.78%) voters in Delhi were removed from the draft electoral roll published on Monday. The deletion of names, carried out during the 49-day enumeration phase of the ongoing special intensive revision (SIR) drive, is based on forms that were not returned, said poll officials.
Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convener Arvind Kejriwal took a swipe at the Election Commission (EC) over the deletion of names.
In a post on X, he wrote: “The names of 47 lakh voters are missing. The Government of India is unnecessarily worried about the population. Through SIR, the Election Commission will reduce our country’s population from 140 crore to 50 crore.”
Delhi Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chief Harsh Malhotra said, “If Kejriwal believes that any genuine and eligible voter has been left out despite submitting the form, he should present such cases before the EC instead of levelling allegations.”
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