No VIP Left Behind: ECI’s Drive to Guarantee a Spot For Them on the Final Voter Roll

New Delhi: As election officials send out notices under Delhi’s Special Intensive Revision (SIR), citizens are unaware that they are being bracketed into ‘general’ and ‘VIP’ voters.

The Reporters’ Collective has found that in the SIR process, officers have been directed, often informally on WhatsApp, to mark ministers and their families, celebrities, judges, advocates, bureaucrats, IAS, IPS, media persons, social workers and others as VIPs.

While the controversy around VIP voters sparked panic that the Election Commission of India’s (ECI), SIR was overreaching, and could end up removing prominent voters, our investigation shows it is the exact opposite, the ECI is bending rules to ensure no VIP is left behind.

Informal messages have been sent out on WhatsApp ordering election officers to ensure that these VIPs are not deleted in the SIR process “causing inconvenience or embarrassment” to the ECI later.