Delhi’s pre-SIR using 2002 rolls sparks fears of mass voter deletions amid 85% rise in electorate
NEW DELHI: The Election Commission’s decision to use the 2002 voter list as the base for the upcoming Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Delhi has raised unease among citizens, with many fearing their names may be struck off.
Officials said the revision exercise will rely on the rolls prepared during the last SIR conducted 23 years ago. In 2002, Delhi had 84.4 lakh registered voters, of whom 47.5 lakh were men and 36.9 lakh were women. In comparison, the current rolls for the 2025 Assembly elections show 1.56 crore registered voters, an increase of nearly 85 per cent, with women voters nearly doubling.
The biggest concern is for those whose parents’ names do not appear in the 2002 rolls. “If a voter’s name appears in both the 2002 and 2025 lists, they will only need to attach a copy of the old rolls along with their form. If not, but a parent’s name appears in the 2002 rolls, the voter will have to submit an identity document, the form, and a copy of the parent’s entry. However, voters whose parents are also missing from the 2002 rolls will face additional verification,” an official in the Delhi Election Officer’s office explained.
The Election Commission has issued a list of 12 documents that can be submitted to establish identity. Booth-level officers have been appointed across constituencies, and a new constituency map has been prepared based on the 2002 Assembly boundaries.
Still, the uncertainty has left residents anxious.
"My father was a migrant worker and never had a voter ID in Delhi, though I do. Since our names don’t figure in the 2002 list, I’m not sure how either of us will be able to prove our residency here," said Saksham Paswan, a resident of Laxmi Nagar.
The move has already triggered political reactions. Delhi Congress chief Devender Yadav alleged that the SIR was “a conspiracy to suppress the BJP’s conspiracy to steal votes and drive out the poor, slum dwellers and migrants.” He questioned the logic of matching the rolls of 2002, when Delhi’s population stood at 1.39 crore, with those of 2025, when the number of registered voters alone is 1.55 crore.
The Aam Aadmi Party and the BJP had earlier traded charges of adding fake names and deleting legitimate ones during previous Assembly elections. Political disputes have also surfaced in Bihar, where a similar revision is underway and the 2003 voter list was used as the cutoff. In Delhi, too, the 2002 rolls served as the cutoff for the 2003 Assembly elections.
