AAP alleges irregularities in Delhi voter roll revision, seeks EC intervention

New Delhi, Jul 17 (PTI) The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Friday alleged irregularities in the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Delhi, claiming that eligible voters, particularly from poor and migrant communities, were being left out of the exercise. Addressing a press conference, Delhi AAP chief Saurabh Bharadwaj alleged that around 14 lakh voters had been removed during a pre-SIR exercise and claimed that they would not be able to participate in the ongoing revision process. He also alleged that enumeration forms had not been distributed in several low-income localities despite official records showing full distribution. Bharadwaj further claimed that residents whose slum clusters had been demolished, including those rehabilitated in government-provided flats, were not being issued enumeration forms by Booth Level Officers (BLOs). He urged the Election Commission to ensure that all eligible voters are included in the revision process. Burari MLA Sanjeev Jha claimed that migrant voters had been disproportionately affected by the exercise. He alleged that people marked as "absent" or "shifted" during the pre-revision exercise were not receiving enumeration forms, preventing them from participating in the ongoing voter roll revision. Kondli MLA Kuldeep Kumar alleged that several residents who had voted in the Delhi Assembly elections later found their names missing from the electoral rolls. He also claimed that enumeration forms were not being distributed door-to-door in some localities. AAP leader Vikas Goyal alleged that people displaced following demolition of slum settlements, including those allotted government flats, were also being denied enumeration forms. He appealed to the Election Commission to ensure that eligible voters are not excluded from the electoral roll revision exercise. Responding to the claims, Delhi unit BJP president Harsh Malhotra said,"People of Delhi shouldn't fall prey to the misinformation being spread by Aam Aadmi Party and Congress leaders as no one can delete the vote of any Delhi resident who is registered only in Delhi, and the BJP will not allow it to happen." The SIR has two primary objectives -- first, to ensure that no foreign national is registered as an Indian voter and second, to ensure that every Indian citizen is registered as a voter at only one place, he said. "AAP leaders have raised the SIR issue in the name of the migrant voters but their real objective is to protect their Bangladeshi and Rohingya voter," he added. Over 99.5 per cent of Delhi's 1.45 crore electors have been provided enumeration forms under the SIR of electoral rolls, with the digitisation of completed forms nearing 18 per cent, according to official data. As per the cumulative status report issued by Delhi Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), a total of 1,44,44,600 enumeration forms have been distributed, covering 99.55 per cent of the capital's 1,45,10,298 electors as of 8 pm on Thursday. The number of digitised forms stood at 26,02,654, accounting for 17.94 per cent of the total electorate. With distribution almost complete, the exercise is expected to increasingly focus on the collection and digitisation of filled enumeration forms. The Election Commission has extended the SIR schedule for Delhi. House-to-house visits by booth-level officers (BLOs) will continue till August 8. The draft electoral rolls will be published on August 17, while the final electoral rolls will be published on October 19. PTI SHB SHB MDO MDO