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India

22 lakh voters deleted from draft rolls of four states during SIR

The collective voter base that stood at 3.68 crore before the SIR exercise in Mizoram, Odisha, Manipur and Sikkim has now shrunk to 3.46 crore.

TNIE online desk

Amid the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Mizoram, Odisha, Manipur and Sikkim, the states' combined voter base has shrunk by nearly 22 lakh after the draft voter list were published in the last few days.

The collective voter base that stood at 3.68 crore before the SIR exercise in these states has now shrunk to 3.46 crore.

The maximum number of names -- 20.11 lakh -- were dropped in Odisha.

However, people left out of the draft rolls still have a chance to be included in the final rolls to be published later this year.

Mizoram, Odisha, Manipur and Sikkim are among the 16 states and three Union Territories where electoral roll revision is underway with a staggered schedule.

When SIR Phase 3 was rolled out on May 14, the combined voter base of the 16 states and three Union Territories had stood at 36.73 crore.

As the Election Commission was preparing for the SIR exercise in Bihar, officials of the commission had claimed that its grassroots-level functionaries found several nationals from Bangladesh, Nepal and Myanmar in the state.

However, the poll authority did not eventually share figures or proof of such people who were ineligible to be included in the voters' list in the state.

Opposition parties had dubbed the Election Commission's claims as a ploy to carry out the SIR exercise to target electors not aligned with the BJP and its allies.

(With inputs from PTI)

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