Maharashtra SIR: Over 2 crore voter forms uncollected; NCP (SP) MLA raises objections

More than two crore voter enumeration forms remain uncollected in Maharashtra during the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) as the electors were either absent, deceased or had shifted, as per official data released on Monday.

NCP (SP) MLA Rohit Pawar, who met poll officials, objected to the "exclusion" of over two crore names from the electoral rolls.

The enumeration phase of the SIR began in the state on June 30.

As per data released by Maharashtra's Chief Electoral Officer on Monday, the state has 9,78,54,049 voters. Enumeration forms of 7,69,52,262 voters, or 78.64 per cent, have been digitised, while forms of 2,07,93,916 voters, or 21.25 per cent, remained uncollected as the voters were either absent, deceased, had shifted or had duplicate names.

The SIR digitisation work was 99.89 per cent complete, with 1,00,253 booth-level officers deployed across the state, poll officials said.

Fourteen of Maharashtra's 36 districts have completed 100 per cent of the SIR work, while the two Mumbai districts have completed around 99 per cent, they said.

The digitisation process will continue, and the final figures are expected by late Monday evening or Tuesday, an official said.

Talking to reporters, Pawar raised objections over the basis on which names could be excluded from the draft rolls. He claimed the figure could rise further after scrutiny of voters whose information was incomplete or whose names had undergone changes.

Pawar said he was informed that among the names excluded, around 34 lakh voters had been shown as deceased, 76 lakh households could not be contacted and 77 lakh voters had permanently shifted their address. Around two lakh people had refused to provide information, he claimed.

Voters whose names were excluded, including those found absent, could submit Form 6 to seek inclusion in the electoral roll. Some of the excluded names could be restored after verification, Pawar said, citing the officials.

The MLA also claimed that booth-level officers were under pressure to complete the verification and in some places they were conducting "table surveys", with information allegedly being provided by BJP workers. Such instances had come to light in Pune, Nashik and Thane, he claimed.

Pawar also alleged that a software developed by the BJP categorised voters as those sharing its ideology, "suspicious" voters and opponents. He said he had obtained electoral roll data from all 288 assembly constituencies and would compare it with the preliminary list to be released by the Election Commission.

Officials said the draft electoral roll would be uploaded on the websites of the respective district administrations. Voters would be able to verify their names and if their names were missing, they could submit Form 6 for inclusion.