Congress Demands Full Transparency on Voter Deletions in Uttarakhand’s SIR Roll Update

Dehradun: The recently concluded Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of Uttarakhand’s electoral rolls has ignited a fresh controversy. The state Congress alleges that a substantial number of names were removed and is pressing the Election Commission to disclose the precise statistics.

Congress Raises Alarm Over Mass Voter Deletions

Addressing reporters at the party’s Uttarakhand Bhawan, former MLA and chair of the Congress SIR Committee Manoj Rawat claimed that approximately 13.85 lakh voters disappeared from the rolls during the pre‑SIR and SIR stages. Rawat questioned why the Election Commission has yet to publish a detailed breakdown of deletions and demanded that figures for each phase be made publicly available to ensure transparency.

Concerns About the Use of Form‑7

Rawat also pointed to irregularities surrounding the deployment of Form‑7. He said that automatically generated forms, complaints allegedly lodged by BJP workers, and the apparent lack of response to those complaints have raised doubts about the openness of the process.

Allegations of Collusion

The Congress leader suggested that eligible voters may have been inadvertently excluded and hinted at possible coordination between the Election Commission and the BJP. He emphasized that these remain party allegations and have not been proven in a court of law.

BLOs Guarded Voter Names

Rawat praised the party’s booth‑level officers (BLOs) for their vigilance. According to him, Congress’s grassroots teams stayed active throughout the revision, flagging cases where legitimate voters were at risk of being dropped.

Worries About the Upcoming Inclusion Phase

The party also warned about the forthcoming addition round via Form‑6. Rawat insisted that both the addition and removal of names must follow a clear, verifiable, and transparent procedure.

Call for Complete Disclosure

Congress has formally demanded that the Election Commission publish all SIR‑related data, including the exact count of deletions at each stage. The party argues that such openness will dispel doubts and reinforce confidence in the integrity of the electoral roll.

“Electoral rolls underpin every citizen’s right to vote,” Rawat said. “Every step of their preparation must be open to scrutiny.”

Present at the briefing were senior Congress leaders such as state general secretary Rajendra Bhandari, minority department president Haji Suleman Ansari, chief spokesperson Garima Mehra Dausoni, SIR committee member Amendra Bisht, and advocate Sandeep Chamoli.