New Delhi: For Nazmeen of Mangolpuri’s Block Y, the SIR process took an unexpected turn. She gave her uncle’s permanent address but didn’t receive her enumeration form. The BLO said her relatives had submitted a statement saying she didn’t live there. “No proof was shown to me. I eventually got my form. A senior official admitted it was the BLO’s fault,” she said.Such testimonies were at the heart of questions raised by Voter Adhikar Manch over Delhi’s electoral rolls at a conference Tuesday. The group questioned the sharp pre-SIR deletions and the process itself, alleging many voters were neither informed nor given a chance to explain.The group flagged over 11 lakh deletions between Jan 2025 and June 2026. The roll grew by 1.7 lakh in 2025 but fell by 11.7 lakh in the first six months of 2026, with almost 3.4 lakh deletions in April alone. During SIR, over 47.5 lakh were flagged as absent, shifted, dead or duplicate: 66.4% permanently shifted, 24.7% absent/untraceable, 5.9% dead and 3% duplicate, it said.For some, the issue was deeply personal. Satpal, a Rajokari Pahadi resident for five decades, said his SIR form never arrived. “I haven’t shifted even once. Then why was my name suddenly cut?”At Jagdamba Camp, Virma Devi’s name appeared under ‘dead’ in the ASDD list. Her family questioned how she could have been marked dead without verification. Another resident, Manju, said she was marked ‘absent’. “I simply didn’t get my form in time,” she said.The group alleged that at Bela Estate, 909 people were on the roll in 2025, 729 before SIR and just one after SIR. Kamal, a Bela Estate resident, said it was unfair to link their electoral status to the possible demolition of jhuggis in the area. He said the BLO visited the area and forms were completed and verified by July 2026.“The SDM said our names would be removed because this is a kachcha area. We showed records from 1961, 1975, 2002 and 2025, but they weren’t accepted,” he said.Residents were later asked for electricity bills or registry documents. “If our names were valid last year, why are they suddenly being questioned now?” Kamal said.Panellist Yogendra Yadav said electoral rolls cannot be altered arbitrarily and voters must get “a notice, an opportunity to object, a hearing and a written order” before deletion. He said voters who didn’t receive forms or could not fill them properly were being wrongly marked ‘absent’, stressing “displacement and voter registration are separate issues”.Another panellist, Anjali Bharadwaj, said over 11 lakh names had been deleted since 2025 while 47 lakh were flagged during SIR and another 33 lakh received notices. “If 91 lakh voters are deleted or facing notices, the big question is: who were the people who voted in the election?” she said.EC said no eligible voter can be deleted without inquiry and an opportunity to respond. BLOs conducted house-to-house verification and notices were issued to voters found shifted. It said 100% enumeration forms were distributed, with absent, shifted, dead and duplicate voters marked in the ASDD list after verification. Those missing from the draft roll can file Form 6 till Sept 30, with the final roll due Nov 4.Responding to an X post alleging exclusion of electors from demolished colonies, EC said forms are distributed to electors found residing at their registered address. Under Section 19 of RP Act, an elector must be an ordinary resident of the constituency. Those who have shifted can apply through Form 8; deletion from the old address follows only after enrolment at the new address.
