The Election Commission (EC) has clarified that notices issued to prominent voters under Delhi’s ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls do not mean they have been excluded from the voters’ list. The clarification came after notices issued to several high-profile individuals, including Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, drew public attention.
The notices have been issued to several prominent public figures, including former Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, New Delhi MP Bansuri Swaraj, former Delhi BJP president Virendra Kumar Sachdeva, senior BJP leader L K Advani, and former Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia. Former Army Chief General Upendra Dwivedi and his wife, along with CPM MP John Brittas’s wife and son, have also received notices under the exercise. The development has brought attention to the electoral verification process and the implications of a name being flagged for discrepancies. Under the SIR exercise, voters whose details cannot be matched with previous electoral records or whose submitted information contains inconsistencies may be asked to provide additional documents. The Election Commission has maintained that the exercise is intended to verify electoral records and ensure that eligible voters remain included. Following verification of her documents, her electoral entry was validated for inclusion in the final roll. The controversy has also focused attention on the inclusion of prominent officials and public figures in the list of voters receiving notices. Delhi Election Body Issues Clarification Delhi’s election body issued an official clarification that receiving a SIR notice doesn’t mean that the name of the receiver will be deleted from the rolls.
A notice is therefore a request for verification, not a final decision to remove a voter from the electoral roll.
In the case of Rekha Gupta, officials said her entry was flagged over an age-related discrepancy in her enumeration form. The EC has said that the process applies to voters whose records have been flagged, regardless of their public profile, and that the claims and objections process provides an opportunity to submit the necessary documents.
