Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): A large number of voters in the city fear losing their right to vote as they are unable to find their names or those of their parents in the 2003 voters’ list, even though the names appear in the 1995 and 2025 lists. Many recall having voted in 2003 Assembly polls.
BLOs have no explanation for this discrepancy. They insist that voters must write down the assembly constituency number, part number, and serial number from the 2003 list where their names or their parents’ names appear in the form. Without this information, forms are not accepted. Around 30 such cases have been reported at a single booth in the Fatehgarh locality of the Old City.
Parween, her husband Sarfaraz, and their children Waseem and Farheen, residents of Workshop Road, Fatehgarh, have names in the 1995 and 2025 lists but not in the 2003 list. Professor Nartan, who retired from Saifia College, cannot find his name in the 2003 list; he lived near Gauhar Mahal at the time but has since moved to Koh-e-Fiza.
Ruksana, (60), who shifted from House Number 35, Ward No. 7 in Fatehgarh to Karond, can find her name in the voters’ list but her EPIC number is missing, making her fear she may lose her right to vote.
BLO Kausar Siddiqui said that while such names may be temporarily deleted, voters will have the opportunity to produce other documents to prove their residency. RS Thakur, who shifted from Bhagalpur (Bihar) to Bhopal in 2003 and now lives in Fortune Estate, cannot find his parents’ names in Bihar’s 2003 voters’ list.
As a result, the names of him, his wife, and his children risk being deleted from the post-SIR voters’ list. Ankit Nagar, who moved from the Old City to Nehru Nagar and now resides on Narmadapuram Road, cannot locate his or his wife’s old EPIC cards.
In many cases, BLOs have reported voters as ‘shifted’ when houses were found locked. Unless voters visit the BLO and submit forms, their names may be removed from the electoral rolls.
