Delhi Draft Voter List Shrinks by 32.8%: 47.56 Lakh Names Removed

The draft electoral roll for Delhi, prepared after a Special Intensive Revision (SIR), shows a significant reduction in the electorate. The list now contains 97.53 lakh voters, down from 1.45 crore before the exercise began, marking an overall decrease of 32.8 per cent.

A total of 47.56 lakh electors have been excluded at this draft stage. The largest category of exclusions, numbering 43.32 lakh, comprises individuals marked as permanently shifted or absent. Additionally, 2.82 lakh names were removed as deceased, and 1.41 lakh were identified as duplicates or multiple enrollments.

The draft roll includes 48.9 lakh men, 47.6 lakh women, and 447 third-gender electors. The reduction was not uniform across the capital's districts. South East Delhi saw the steepest decline at 43.61 per cent, followed by New Delhi at 39.02 per cent and South at 38.64 per cent. Central Delhi recorded a 38.01 per cent reduction, while North and East districts saw decreases of 35.78 per cent and 35.59 per cent, respectively.

Other districts experienced lower deletion rates, ranging from Old Delhi's 33.07 per cent to Outer North's 24.32 per cent. Delhi's overall 32.8 per cent reduction is the highest among states and union territories in the comparison, ahead of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu (29.6 per cent), Telangana (21.7 per cent), Maharashtra (21.1 per cent), and Karnataka (19.5 per cent).

The SIR process involves verification of electoral entries, and these draft-stage figures are not final. Names excluded at this point are not necessarily permanently removed. Electors who find their names missing can file claims and objections for inclusion or correction before the final electoral roll is prepared.