EC reducing population through SIR: Kejriwal's jibe over Delhi draft voter roll

Arvind Kejriwal questioned the Election Commission's Special Intensive Revision after the Delhi draft roll left out more than 47 lakh voters. He said the missing names raised serious concerns and mocked the Centre over the scale of the exercise.

In Short

• SIR involved door-to-door verification with 67.18% forms digitised
• Delhi shows highest deletion rate at 33%, linked to floating population
• Voters can file claims till September 30; final roll out on November 4

Former Delhi Chief Minister and AAP president Arvind Kejriwal on Monday questioned the Election Commission’s Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise after the draft electoral roll for Delhi excluded the names of more than 47 lakh voters. Reacting to the publication of the draft roll, Kejriwal said on X that out of around 1.5 crore voters, 47 lakh names were missing.

Taking a swipe at the Centre, he said the government should not be concerned about population growth because the SIR exercise could reduce the country's population from 140 crore to 50 crore.

Kejriwal's remarks came after the Delhi draft electoral roll showed that 47,56,722 voters out of 1,45,10,299 registered electors did not figure in the draft list. The draft roll contains 97,53,577 voters across Delhi's 70 Assembly constituencies.

Under the SIR exercise, which involved door-to-door verification, enumeration forms for around 67.18 per cent of Delhi's electors were received and digitised. The exercise began on June 30 and ended on August 17.

The Election Commission has categorised the remaining voters as "uncollectable" under the ASDDO classification, which covers electors marked as absent, shifted, dead, duplicate or falling under other categories.

Delhi has recorded the highest percentage of deletions among the states and Union Territories where SIR has been undertaken, with around 33 per cent of voters excluded at the draft stage, officials said. In absolute terms, the deletion of more than 47 lakh names is also among the highest.

A poll official attributed the high number of deletions partly to Delhi's large floating population, which could have resulted in a significant number of voters being marked as shifted or unavailable during the verification exercise.

The extent of digitisation varied across Delhi's 70 Assembly constituencies. Rohini recorded the highest rate at 83.43 per cent, while Tughlakabad had the lowest at 52.15 per cent.

Voters whose enumeration forms were not received during the exercise can still seek inclusion in the electoral roll. They can file claims through Form 6 along with supporting documents until September 30.

Check the Delhi draft electoral roll

The claims and objections will be examined, with the notice and disposal process scheduled to continue until October 29. The final electoral roll is scheduled to be published on November 4, according to the revised Election Commission schedule.

Karnataka's draft roll excluded around 1.07 crore voters out of 4.46 crore, while Andhra Pradesh reported 44.89 lakh deletions. Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Daman and Diu recorded deletions amounting to 29.64 per cent of their total electorate.

- Ends