After Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in Odisha, names of more than 20 lakh people have been removed from the voter list. According to the draft voter list published on Sunday (July 5), the number of registered voters in the state has decreased from 3.33 crore to 3.13 crore.
State Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) R.S. Gopalan said that during the SIR process, names of voters who were dead, transferred, double entry and absent in verification have been removed from the list. He said that at the time of finalizing the voter list on May 20, there were 3.33 crore voters in the state.
Now 3.13 crore voters in the list
There are now 3.13 crore voters in the draft list prepared after the SIR campaign which ran from May 30 to June 28. These include 1.60 crore men, 1.53 crore women and 2,775 third gender voters.
Of the 20 lakh voters removed from the voter list during SIR, 8.32 lakh have died, while 10.07 lakh others have moved to other places or were not present during SIR. Apart from this, names of 1.58 lakh voters were found registered in more than one constituency and were removed. At the same time, about 14 thousand voters did not submit the prescribed counting forms to the booth level officers (BLOs).
The final list will be published on 6 September
Chief Electoral Officer Gopalan said in the press conference that voters whose names are not included in the draft voter list can register their claims or objections. He said that the claims and objections will be heard till August 4 and the final voter list will be published on September 6.
How to lodge a claim or objection
He said that if the name of any person is not in the draft voter list, then he can register his claims and objections through BLO, ECINet mobile app or the Election Commission portal. The last date for filing claims and objections has been fixed as August 4.
He said that 147 Electoral Registration Officers (ERO) and 994 Assistant Electoral Registration Officers (AERO) of the state will investigate all the claims and objections. If needed, additional officers will also be deployed, so that all the cases can be resolved within the stipulated time limit. The final voter list will be published on 6 September.
Opposition parties attack the government
Meanwhile, while commenting on the draft voter list, Biju Janata Dal (BJD) Vice President Devi Prasad Mishra claimed that not 20 lakh, but more than 27 lakh names of voters have been removed from the list. Meanwhile, Congress Legislature Party leader Ram Chandra Kadam alleged that the removal of names of 20 lakh voters considered against the ruling BJP in the state is a conspiracy. He said that his party will raise this issue both inside and outside the Assembly in the coming days.
BJP’s counterattack
Responding to the statements of opposition leaders, BJP MLA Babu Singh said that the Election Commission has revised the voter list, not the BJP. He said that those who have any objection regarding the draft list can present their objections/claims before the Election Commission through appropriate channel.
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