SIR row: Rahul's 'Chalo Dilli' call as Delhi data shows 47.56 lakh left off rolls

NEW DELHI: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Thursday urged students and citizens to join the INDIA bloc's 'Chalo Dilli' march on November 1, calling it a movement to save democracy and end "vote theft", even as fresh data showed that only 2.71 lakh people have applied to be included in Delhi's rolls after 47.56 lakh electors were left out of the draft list.

In a video message, Gandhi said the march to Ramlila Maidan is "to save democracy, to put an end to the theft of votes, and to protect the Constitution". "This is not a march for any single political party; it is a march for the very soul of India," he said, inviting student groups regardless of political affiliation. "Don't worry about police, don't worry about lathis. The BJP will not have the guts to try any of their antics."

The INDIA bloc will hold a "public impeachment" of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar on October 30 at Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge's 10, Rajaji Marg residence over alleged irregularities in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. The Dilli Chalo march and a rally at Ramlila Maidan follow on November 1.

According to a report from the Delhi Chief Electoral Officer's office, 2,71,639 Form 6 applications for inclusion were received between August 31 and October 27, after 47,56,722 electors were excluded from the draft rolls published on August 31. West Delhi accounted for the most applications at 33,377, followed by North West Delhi at 27,341. Over the same period the city received 20,654 Form 7 applications for deletion and 1,02,149 Form 8 applications for correction.

The draft rolls contained 97,53,577 electors against 1.45 crore before the revision began on June 30; those whose enumeration forms were not submitted were left out. Notices were also issued to 33,14,032 electors in the draft rolls whose records were flagged for mapping issues or logical discrepancies, of which 94.34 per cent had been disposed of by October 27. The claims and objections window closes on October 30 and the final rolls are due on December 4.

Separately, the Congress has alleged the revision was designed by the Prime Minister and the Home Minister and executed by the CEC to deny people the franchise.

The row has also reached the Election Commission's top official. Kerala Public Works Minister P K Basheer told the state Assembly that a preliminary vigilance inquiry into a 2006 road project, when Gyanesh Kumar was PWD secretary, is still ongoing and its report is not ready. The inquiry concerns a World Bank-funded Rs 215 crore reconstruction of the MC Road from Angamaly to Thiruvananthapuram, awarded to a joint venture, in which the minister said irregularities caused a loss of Rs 700 crore. He said the preliminary inquiry was ordered because of discrepancies in the 2006 probe.

(With inputs from PTI and media reports)

Pioneer News Service (aggregated)