AAP alleges EC withheld details of 47.5 lakh voters deleted from Delhi rolls

AAP Delhi chief Saurabh Bharadwaj on Tuesday alleged that the Election Commission has not shared the names, phone numbers and addresses of voters whose names were removed from the draft electoral rolls in the national capital, despite repeated requests from political parties.

In a post on X, Bharadwaj said the Aam Aadmi Party had sought the details both in writing and during meetings with election officials. He claimed that the Delhi Chief Electoral Officer had also assured the party that the information would be provided.

"Despite this, the list was not shared," Bharadwaj alleged.

He said the absence of the details had made it difficult for political parties to check whether the deletions were genuine or whether there were any irregularities in the exercise.

The Election Commission of India did not immediately respond to the allegations.

Bharadwaj also said the AAP was not planning to approach the courts over the issue, pointing to ongoing legal proceedings related to electoral rolls in Bihar and West Bengal.

He said any political change would have to come through "the streets and the Constitution".

The allegations came a day after the draft Delhi electoral roll prepared under the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) was published. The exercise excluded around 47.5 lakh electors from the existing voter base of 1.45 crore, according to the figures cited in the draft rolls.

Among Delhi's 70 Assembly constituencies, Burari recorded the highest number of deletions, with around 1.67 lakh names excluded from the draft roll.

In percentage terms, Tughlakabad recorded the highest level of deletions at 47.85 per cent. It was followed by Okhla at 45.33 per cent, Kasturba Nagar at 44.03 per cent and Badarpur at 42.67 per cent.

The publication of the draft roll has triggered political debate in Delhi, with opposition parties questioning the scale of the deletions and seeking greater transparency in the revision process.

The electoral authorities are expected to consider claims and objections filed during the revision process before the final electoral roll is published.