Dehradun: The recent Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Uttarakhand has ignited a fresh political controversy. The state unit of the Congress alleges that a huge chunk of names vanished from the voter list and is pressing the Election Commission to reveal the precise numbers.
Congress Sounds the Alarm Over Missing Voters
Addressing reporters at the party’s Uttarakhand Bhawan, former legislator and head of the Congress SIR Committee, Manoj Rawat, asserted that roughly 13.85 lakh voters disappeared from the registers during the pre‑SIR and SIR stages. He questioned why the Election Commission has yet to disclose stage‑wise deletion data and demanded that each phase’s figures be made public to guarantee transparency.
Concerns About the Use of Form‑7
Rawat also raised doubts about the deployment of Form‑7 in the revision process. He pointed out that automatically generated forms, complaints allegedly lodged by BJP workers, and the apparent lack of response to those complaints have cast a shadow over the openness of the exercise.
Allegations of Coordinated Exclusion
The Congress leader suggested that eligible voters might have been inadvertently left out and hinted at a possible coordination between the Election Commission and the BJP. He stressed that these remain party allegations and have not been proven in any court of law.
BLOs Guarded Voter Names
Rawat praised the party’s booth‑level officers (BLOs) for their vigilance. According to him, Congress’s grassroots teams remained active throughout the revision, flagging cases where legitimate voters were at risk of being deleted.
Warnings About the Upcoming Form‑6 Phase
The party also warned of the next inclusion round via Form‑6. Rawat insisted that both the addition and removal of names must follow a clear, verifiable, and transparent procedure.
Demand for Complete Disclosure
Congress has formally requested that the Election Commission publish all SIR‑related data, including the exact count of deletions at each stage. The party argues that such disclosure will dispel doubts and restore confidence in the integrity of the electoral roll.
“Electoral rolls are the foundation of every citizen’s right to vote,” Rawat said. “Each step of their preparation must be open to public scrutiny.”
Senior Congress leaders present at the briefing included state general secretary Rajendra Bhandari, minority department president Haji Suleman Ansari, chief spokesperson Garima Mehra Dausoni, SIR committee member Amendra Bisht, and advocate Sandeep Chamoli.
