Amid tussle between AAP and BJP, several Delhi residents express surprise on being named in requests for voter deletion

Bhuwani Bai was born in a slum cluster in east Delhi’s Jhilmil Colony and has lived there with her family her entire life. Ms. Bai, who works as a house help, clearly remembers casting her vote in 1992, a few months after she turned 18, and voting regularly ever since. So, when an Election Commission of India’s (EC) Booth Level Officer (BLO) knocked on her door last week, informing her that her name and her daughter’s name were on a list of voters that are to be removed from the electoral roll, Ms. Bai was taken aback.

“There were around 300 people on the list from our area. As I gleaned through the list, I could identify a lot of names of people who are alive and continue to live in the area,” she said.

Ms. Bai added, “As I’m not educated, I couldn’t understand a lot about the process or why these names, including my daughter’s and my own, had been put on the list.”

When reached for comment, the EC did not respond.

However, a senior official said the EC receives lists from political parties seeking deletion of voters’ names from the electoral roll. “But each list is judiciously verified by the BLOs to make sure no valid voters are cut out,” said the official.

The issue of alleged deletion of voters’ names from the roll has become a big issue in the run-up to the Delhi Assembly election due in February next year. The ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has repeatedly accused the primary Opposition, BJP, of filing applications to delete the names of thousands of voters in the city while the Congress has also expressed concern over the issue. However, the BJP has claimed to be working towards deleting the names of thousands of “fake” voters.

On December 11, AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal met Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Rajiv Kumar, urging him to “safeguard the integrity of the electoral process” by disallowing further deletion of voters ahead of the poll. Two days later, the BJP also reached out to the CEC and submitted a 5,000-page document with “details” about “fake” voters.

Arshad Mustafa Siddiqui, 23, a resident of Old Seemapuri in north-east Delhi, was also recently contacted by a BLO on a drive to verify illegal voters. “I’m not sure why this happened. We have not moved houses, and no form asking for deletion from the voters’ list was submitted by any member of my family. I requested the BLO not to cut my name,” said Mr. Siddiqui.

The process

Explaining the process to delete voters’ names, an official said the process begins after a person’s name, along with other details, is submitted to the EC on Form 7 by a person from the same constituency.

“The application is scrutinised by officials, after which BLOs are required to conduct field inquiries. In case a voter is found to have died, a death certificate is required. In case of a change in residence, proof of address is needed,” said the official.

A source said that at a recent meeting, senior EC officials were asked to promptly address all grievances and complaints raised by political parties.

Published - December 15, 2024 01:02 am IST