Deletions In Recent SIRs Suggest Arbitrary Application Of Reasons, Pg7

Key Highlights:

• Draft electoral rolls from the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise in Telangana and Karnataka show concerns over aggressive deletions.
• Approximately one-fifth of the electoral rolls in both states, which had 3.38 crore and 5.54 crore electors respectively, were culled.
• Analysis indicates wide variations and arbitrary application of reasons for deletion, including 'Shifted', 'Absent', 'Deceased', and 'Duplicate'.
• The Election Commission of India (ECI) has not provided clear guidelines for Booth-level Officers (BLOs) on distinguishing between 'Shifted' and 'Absent' electors.
• The ECI's Manual on Electoral Rolls (2023) states that a temporarily absent person should not have their name deleted from the electoral roll.

Detailed Insights:

• The Special Intensive Revision (SIR) is an exercise undertaken by the Election Commission of India (ECI) to verify and update electoral rolls, aiming to ensure accuracy by removing ineligible voters and including eligible ones.
• The process involves house-to-house enumeration by Booth-level Officers (BLOs), who are local government officials responsible for collecting field information and managing electoral rolls at the grassroots level.
• The ECI combines the categories of 'Shifted' and 'Absent' in its publicly released deletion data, making it difficult to ascertain the specific breakdown of these reasons.
• Instances of arbitrary application include Jubilee Hills (Telangana) where 83% of deletions were marked 'Shifted' and only 15,000 'Absent', contrasting with Nizamabad (Urban) where 50,307 deletions were marked 'Absent'.
• In Karnataka, Hebbal saw 87% of its 1.3 lakh deletions marked as 'Shifted', while Hubli-Dharwad-East recorded roughly 25,000 of its 47,000 deletions as 'Absent'.
• The Supreme Court of India upheld the legitimacy of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in May 2026, affirming the ECI's constitutional obligation to conduct free and fair elections.
• The objective of electoral roll revision is to ensure universal adult suffrage and prevent electoral fraud by maintaining clean and updated lists.

Key Concepts Involved:

• Special Intensive Revision (SIR): A comprehensive exercise by the Election Commission of India to verify and update electoral rolls through house-to-house enumeration.
• Electoral Rolls: Official lists of eligible voters maintained by the Election Commission of India, crucial for conducting fair and credible elections.
• Booth-level Officers (BLOs): Grassroots functionaries appointed by the Election Commission of India under Section 13B(2) of the Representation of the People Act, 1950, responsible for electoral roll management and field verification.
• Election Commission of India (ECI): An autonomous constitutional authority responsible for administering election processes and maintaining electoral rolls in India.
• Absentee Voter: In the context of deletions, the ECI's Manual on Electoral Rolls (2023) defines it as a person temporarily absent whose name should not be deleted; separately, for postal ballots, it refers to specific categories like essential service personnel, senior citizens, and PwD.