Gujarat SIR 2002: RTI figures show door-to-door verification led to deletion of 59,199 names
AHMEDABAD: With the draft electoral roll under the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) now in the public domain and the deadline for filing objections fast approaching, political temperatures across Gujarat have risen sharply over the numbers embedded in the voter list.
Back in 2002, the SIR data obtained through RTI clearly documents how voter roll evolved from the draft stage to final publication.
The SIR exercise of 2001–02 began on August 31, 2001, and concluded with the publication of the final roll on April 10, 2002, spanning nearly seven months. Throughout this period, systematic verification was carried out, with every stage—objection handling, field-level scrutiny, and door-to-door verification—leaving its imprint on the final list.
At the outset, Gujarat’s draft voter roll stood at 3,16,82,489 voters. This draft served as the baseline document, prepared before objections were examined, household verification undertaken, or additions and deletions processed. It marked the starting point of the revision, not its conclusion.
The objection phase itself saw limited public participation. A total of just 3,355 objections were filed during the 2002 SIR. Of these, only 1,295 were accepted, while 2,060 were rejected, indicating that most claims did not withstand scrutiny. Consequently, only 1,295 names were deleted through the objection process, underscoring that this route functioned as a controlled filter rather than a tool for mass deletions.
The more significant churn occurred during house-to-house verification. Doorstep checks led to the deletion of 59,199 names, highlighting the central role of field verification in correcting the roll. When combined with deletions arising from objections, total deletions during the exercise amounted to 60,494 names.
Yet the 2002 revision was not a story of contraction. Despite the removal of over sixty thousand names, additions were substantially higher. New registrations through Form 6 accounted for 78,127 voters, while house-to-house verification added another 41,239. In total, 1,19,366 names were added, demonstrating that the SIR aimed not only to eliminate inaccuracies but also to enrol missing eligible voters.
After applying the final calculation—draft list minus deletions plus additions—the voter roll published at the end of the 2002 SIR stood at 3,17,41,361. Far from shrinking, the roll expanded. The net increase was 58,872 voters, representing a modest rise of 0.19 percent: neither a dramatic surge nor a collapse, but a calibrated expansion following extensive correction.
District-level data reveals where the revision was most intense, with Ahmedabad emerging as the epicentre of activity. The district recorded the highest number of additions in the state at 31,540, followed by Surat with 10,447 and Bharuch with 6,888. Ahmedabad also led in deletions, with 20,682 names removed, followed by Rajkot at 7,025 and Kutch at 5,519. In effect, Ahmedabad shaped the revision from both ends, registering the highest inclusion as well as exclusion, and exerting the greatest electoral impact during the exercise.
RTI responses also clarify why additions rose sharply in 2002 and why migration was not treated as an automatic ground for exclusion. Voters holding EPIC cards but missing from the roll were restored, migrants were added after verification, and new habitats, temporary settlements, and shifting population clusters were incorporated into the voter list. Even voters who had moved were considered following discussions with heads of households, and temporary residents were accommodated. The guiding principle was clear: migration was recognised as a demographic reality to be documented, not a reason to erase a voter’s presence.
It is precisely for this reason that the 2002 SIR figures have returned to the centre of today’s debate. As the current SIR enters its objection phase, concerns are mounting over voters being marked as “shifted,” raising fears of deletions without a clear or timely mechanism for re-enrolment at the new location. The concern is straightforward but serious: if a voter is removed from one constituency due to migration without being seamlessly added elsewhere, the voter does not merely change address but disappears from the electoral roll altogether.
The 2002 SIR data provides a clear benchmark. The draft roll began at 3,16,82,489 voters; total deletions stood at 60,494; total additions reached 1,19,366; and the final roll rose to 3,17,41,361, marking a net gain of 58,872 voters, or 0.19 percent.
As Gujarat’s current draft roll undergoes scrutiny, these historical figures are no longer just records of the past—they have become the yardstick against which the fairness, balance, and intent of the present SIR will be assessed.