Over 2 Crore Maharashtra Voters Not Covered In SIR; NCP (SP) MLA Rohit Pawar Questions Exclusion Process

Mumbai: More than 2.07 crore voter enumeration forms in Maharashtra remained uncollected during the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, with officials attributing the cases to voters being absent, deceased, having shifted residence or duplicate entries.

According to data released by the Maharashtra Chief Electoral Officer, the state has 9,78,54,049 registered voters. Enumeration forms of 7,69,52,262 voters, or 78.64 per cent, have been digitised, while forms relating to 2,07,93,916 voters, or 21.25 per cent, remained uncollected.

The SIR enumeration exercise began in Maharashtra on June 30, with 1,00,253 booth-level officers (BLOs) deployed across the state. Officials said the digitisation work was 99.89 per cent complete and that the final figures were expected by Monday evening or Tuesday.

Fourteen of Maharashtra's 36 districts had completed 100 per cent of the SIR work, while the two Mumbai districts had reached around 99 per cent, officials said.

However, NCP (SP) MLA Rohit Pawar raised objections over the exclusion of more than two crore names and questioned the criteria being used to determine which voters would be left out of the draft electoral roll.

After meeting election officials, Pawar claimed that the excluded or uncollected cases included around 34 lakh voters shown as deceased, 76 lakh households that could not be contacted and 77 lakh voters who had permanently shifted their addresses. He also claimed that around two lakh people had refused to provide information.

Pawar expressed concern that the number could increase further after scrutiny of cases involving incomplete information or changes in voters' details.

He also alleged that BLOs were facing pressure to complete the verification process and claimed that "table surveys" were being conducted in some places, with information allegedly being supplied by BJP workers. He claimed such instances had been reported in Pune, Nashik and Thane.

Officials, however, said voters whose names are not included in the draft electoral roll, including those who were found absent during the enumeration exercise, will have an opportunity to seek inclusion. Such voters can submit Form 6, following which their claims can be verified and eligible names restored.

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