2.89 crore names deleted from voter list in SIR exercise in Uttar Pradesh

Lucknow: As many 2.89 crore names were likely to be deleted from the voter list in Uttar Pradesh where the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise ended on Friday, according to the Election Commission (EC) officials.

The officials said that the draft electoral roll would be published on December 31. The pre-SIR list, which had 15.44 crore names, could have 12.55 crore names after the deletion.

The persons, whose names have been deleted, may submit objections by January 30 next year and their names could be included after submission of necessary documents. The final electoral roll would be published on February 28.

The officials said that the maximum number of names (12 lakh) were deleted in Lucknow followed by Prayagraj (11 lakh) and Kanpur (nine lakh).

The electoral rolls in Agra and Ghaziabad also saw the exclusion of around eight lakh names, sources said.

The officials said that the names were deleted owing to a variety of factors including migration, duplicate voters, deaths and missing voters. Maximum deletion took place because of migration, they added.

The officials have asked the people to file objections after the publication of the draft electoral roll.

They said that 9.81 per cent names were in the ‘unmapped’ category. These voters would be sent notices by the Commission to submit necessary documents to confirm their identity after which they would be moved to the ‘mapped’ category.

The exercise had invited sharp criticism from the opposition parties which claimed that it was aimed at deleting the names of their supporters and benefitting the BJP.

BJP however rejected the allegations and instead claimed that only the names of the ‘illegal migrants’ were being deleted.