If three-time CM gets SIR notice, what about ordinary citizen: AAP

A day after former Chief Minister and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convener Arvind Kejriwal and four members of his family were issued notices after their names were flagged under the ‘no mapping’ category, the party’s Delhi unit chief Saurabh Bharadwaj on Sunday questioned the ongoing special intensive revision (SIR) drive, asking what would happen to an ordinary citizen if the voter details of a three-time Chief Minister were not mapped in the previous exercise.

Chief Minister Rekha Gupta and Mr. Kejriwal were among the 33.1 lakh electors to whom notices were issued, according to the list published by the Chief Electoral Officer of Delhi on September 18. These 33.1 lakh electors constitute roughly one-third of the 97.5 lakh included in the draft roll. The total Delhi electorate is 1.45 crore. The verification and disposal of these cases are to be completed by October 29, while the final electoral roll is to be published on November 4.

At a press conference on Sunday, Mr. Bharadwaj said, “Three-time CM Arvind Kejriwal has been served a notice under the SIR process because, according to the SIR procedure, the names of Arvind Kejriwal, his wife and his children are not being mapped… What will happen to an ordinary person? That person has neither contacts nor networking nor access to the media.”

Mr. Bharadwaj said approximately one-third of the names have been deleted under the pretext of such ‘shifted’ voters and alleged that the Booth Level Officers (BLOs) are deleting names of people even if they have moved to the house directly opposite.

‘Poor will bear the brunt’

Regarding the verification process for the Bharatiya Janata Party leaders, he questioned how the BLO found Ms. Gupta in Shalimar Bagh, claiming that she does not even live in the area.

“BJP minister Kapil Mishra lives in a government bungalow, but his vote is registered in Ghonda, Yamuna Vihar. Education Minister Ashish Sood lives in a bungalow in Chanakyapuri, but how did his vote end up in A-Block, Janakpuri?… How did the BLO not know any of this, and where did the BLO meet these people? This is an absolutely open fraud in the name of SIR,” he said.

“If the voter card of a poor woman is deleted, she will not be able to get a pink card and ₹1,000 of her earnings will be spent on bus fares. The children of poor people will not get admission to schools because they do not have voter IDs,” he said.Questing the verification process in case of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party leaders, he said how did BLO find Ms. Gupta in Shalimar Bagh, when she doesn’t even live there. 

The Delhi Chief Electoral Officer on Friday published the list of electors flagged for discrepancies. Those on the list will have to get their documents verified to feature in the final roll. Other prominent names in the list include former Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankhar and wife Sudesh Dhankhar, former Supreme Court judge Justice Madan B. Lokur, former Union Ministers Subramanian Swamy and Kapil Sibal, Delhi Minister Parvesh Sahib Singh, and New Delhi MP Bansuri Swaraj. While Congress MP Abhishek Manu Singhvi is also on the list, the slot for the reason his name was flagged was left blank.