SIR 2.0 draft rolls: 3.68 crore electors deleted; Andaman tops with 21%, Kerala, MP, Chhattisgarh see up to 13% deletion

All these electors were marked as “shifted/absent”, “deceased” or “enrolled at multiple places” by the Booth Level Officers (BLOs). Any genuine electors can still get back on the final roll by submitting their forms in the claims and objection period, which starts from Tuesday and ends on January 22. Those enrolled at multiple places will be allowed to retain their registration at only one place.

Andaman and Nicobar Islands had the highest deletions of all states and UTs so far, with 16.72% of electors marked as shifted or absent, 2.96% as deceased, and 0.94% as enrolled at multiple places.

In Madhya Pradesh, nearly 42 lakh electors were deleted in the draft stage. According to data released by Madhya Pradesh CEO Sanjeev Jha, 5.31 crore electors had submitted their enumeration forms out of the total 5.74 crore. A total of 31.51 lakh electors had shifted or were found absent. As per the data, 2.77 lakh electors were found enrolled in multiple places and 8.46 lakh electors were found deceased.

In Kerala, 5.25% of the total 2.78 crore electors were removed for being “shifted/absent”, 2.33% were deceased, and 0.49% were enrolled at multiple places. In Chhattisgarh, 9% electors were deleted for having shifted or being absent at the time of the enumeration, 3% had died, and 1% were enrolled at multiple places.

The EC announced the SIR of electoral rolls on June 24, in which all registered electors are required to submit enumeration forms, and some categories of electors have to give additional documents to establish eligibility, in order to remain on the rolls. The exercise started in Bihar in June and led to a 6% decrease in the state’s electoral rolls. Then, the EC started the SIR in 12 states/UTs on October 27. The draft rolls for West Bengal, Rajasthan, Goa, Lakshadweep and Puducherry were published on December 16, showing deletions from 2.5% in Lakshadweep to 10% in Puducherry. Tamil Nadu and Gujarat draft rolls were published on December 18, with 15% and 14.5% of electors deleted, respectively. The draft roll of Uttar Pradesh is scheduled to be published on December 31.

In Bihar, 2.83% were deceased, 4.59% permanently shifted/not found, and 0.89% enrolled at multiple places in the draft roll that was published on August 1. Asked why the percentage of electors marked “shifted or absent” was higher in some of the other states than in Bihar, EC sources said one reason could be that migrant workers from other states were earlier registered in these states and were not found or chose not to fill their forms when the BLOs visited.