Congress Calls for Complete Transparency on Voter Deletions in Uttarakhand’s SIR Roll Update

Dehradun: The newest Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Uttarakhand has ignited a fresh political controversy. The state unit of the Congress alleges that a large number of names were removed from the voters' list and is urging the Election Commission to disclose the precise statistics.

Congress Raises Alarm Over Massive Voter Deletions

At a press briefing held in the party’s Uttarakhand Bhawan, former legislator and head of the Congress SIR Committee, Manoj Rawat, asserted that approximately 13.85 lakh voters disappeared from the rolls during the pre‑SIR and SIR stages. Rawat questioned why the Election Commission has not made the detailed deletion data public and called for stage‑wise figures to be released for full transparency.

Concerns About the Use of Form‑7

Rawat also raised doubts about the deployment of Form‑7 in the revision process. He noted that automatically generated forms, complaints allegedly lodged by BJP workers, and the apparent lack of response to those complaints have cast a shadow over the openness of the exercise.

Allegations of Collusion

The Congress leader suggested that eligible voters may have been inadvertently excluded and hinted at a 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 remained active throughout the revision, flagging cases where legitimate voters were at risk of being dropped.

Warnings About the Upcoming Inclusion Phase

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

Demand for Full Disclosure

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

“Electoral rolls are the foundation of every citizen’s right to vote,” Rawat said. “Each step in their preparation must be open to scrutiny.”

Senior Congress leaders present at the briefing included 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.