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

Dehradun: The most recent Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Uttarakhand has ignited a fresh political controversy. The state unit of the Congress party alleges that an enormous number of voters were removed from the list and is urging the Election Commission to release the precise figures.

Congress Sounds the Alarm Over Missing Voters

Addressing reporters at the party’s Uttarakhand Bhawan, former legislator and head of the Congress SIR Committee, Manoj Rawat, asserted that approximately 13.85 lakh names disappeared from the rolls during the pre‑SIR and SIR stages. Rawat questioned the Commission’s reluctance to publish a stage‑wise breakdown of deletions and called for full public disclosure to safeguard 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 follow‑up on those complaints have undermined confidence in the procedure.

Allegations of Coordinated Exclusion

The Congress leader suggested that eligible electors might have been unintentionally omitted and hinted at a possible coordination between the Election Commission and the BJP. He stressed that these remain party allegations and have yet to be proven in a court of law.

BLOs’ Vigilance in Protecting Voter Names

Rawat praised the party’s Booth Level Officers (BLOs) for their diligence. According to him, Congress’s grassroots teams remained active throughout the revision, flagging instances where legitimate voters were at risk of being erased.

Worries About the Upcoming Form‑6 Phase

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

Demand for Full Disclosure of SIR Data

Congress has formally requested that the Election Commission publish all SIR‑related statistics, including the exact count of deletions at each stage. The party argues that such openness will dispel doubts and reinforce public confidence in the integrity of the electoral roll.

“Electoral rolls are the foundation of every citizen’s right to vote,” Rawat said. “Every step of 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.