BHUBANESWAR: Days after applying for voluntary retirement, Odisha chief electoral officer RS Gopalan dismissed suggestions of any ‘hera pheri’ (foul play) in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, saying the state followed all prescribed procedures and ensured the process was transparent.
“Odisha followed every step listed in the book and every step to make sure the process was transparent,” he asserted.
In a telephonic interview, the CEO also told TNIE that he has sought voluntary retirement from service on personal and health grounds.
Speaking on the allegations of deletion of 27 lakh voters, Gopalan said the state had around 3.42 crore voters following the special summary revision in January 2025. However, before the SIR process began, there were some additions and deletions and by May 20, 2026, the electoral roll was around 3.34 crore. A pre-SIR mapping was carried out in which 95 per cent of the voters were traced back to 2002 roll, while around 12 lakh (5 pc), remained unmapped.
After house-to-house survey, around 20 lakh names were removed from the draft electoral roll that included around 8.8 lakh deceased, 8.32 lakh permanently shifted, around two lakh who couldn’t be traced and about 1.58 lakh duplications.
During claims and objections, another 44,000 deletions - around 20,000 from 58,000 Form-7s and another 24,000 from the voters that had remained unmapped - were carried out against 2.75 lakh additions, taking the final figure to about 3.16 crore.
Gopalan said that the deletions were not carried out merely on the basis of not being able to produce any document. “The EROs monitored it a their level, while we also shared the whole 20 lakh list by booth in the public domain. The booth level agents (BLAs) of recognised political parties had also given the list of deleted names. There is no question of any ‘hera pheri’ in the mapping process,” Gopalan said.
On his VRS, he said, “I have completed 25 years of service. Moreover, as I joined service late, there is no further scope of promotion,” the CEO said.
Days after applying for VRS, CEO RS Gopalan explains his decision to quit service, defends the final roll and answers allegations over mass deletions and Form-7 misuse, in a telephonic interview with Sudarsan Maharana.
The news of you seeking VRS immediately after the SIR exercise in Odisha has caused a stir. The Opposition has questioned the timing of your decision. Why have you decided to quit?
Before I come to the question, I want to clarify that during the entire exercise and during my tenure as the CEO from July 2024, neither the government, nor the ruling party or the ECI ever asked me to do any illegal task. On the other hand, wherever I have recommended action against any erring officer, wherever I have recommended for suspension, the government had always acted. Therefore, there was absolutely no pressure on me to do any illegal task and I have not done any illegal task.
On my VRS, I joined the service very late and got my last promotion as the principal secretary in January this year and there is no further promotion. I have completed 25 years of service and I’m eligible for full pension. If I go early, maybe I’ll try my luck somewhere else. I may seek job elsewhere. I also have some health issues. So there is nothing wrong in the timing.
Since the SIR was going on, I decided to wait till its completion. We heard about 58 lakh notices. Has anyone ever heard that people were forced to stand in the sun for hours to attend hearing? Our BLOs took up all the workload on themselves and I convey my sincere thanks to them.
There have been allegations that over 27 lakh voters were deleted in the SIR.
As of January 2025, the state had around 3.42 crore voters following the special summary revision. However, before the SIR process began, there were some additions and deletions. By May 20, 2026, the figure was around 3.34 crore. We even carried out a pre-SIR mapping in which we were able to trace back about 95 per cent of the voters to 2002 roll.
After the SIR was declared on May 20 and house-to-house survey was taken up for the entire June month, all the 3.34 crore voters in the list were given enumeration forms to be filled up and collected back. We collected back around 93 per cent forms. The rest, especially the 12 lakh that had remained unmapped were asked to produce the documents from among the 12 listed and those who could not produce any document were asked to submit a declaration. The declarations were received in around 1 lakh such cases.
Following the house-to-house survey and verification, around 20 lakh names were removed from the draft electoral roll that included around 8.8 lakh deceased, 8.32 lakh permanently shifted, around 2 lakh individuals who couldn’t be traced at all and around 1.58 lakh electors who had their names in more than one place.
Then we invited claims and objections from July 5 to August 19 following which there were only 44,000 deletions against 2.75 lakh additions. We received only 58,000 Form-7s for deletions and only 20,000 of these forms were accepted. Similarly, around 24,000 more names were deleted from the 12 lakh unmapped people whom we had asked to submit declarations.
So, when we published the final roll on September 21, the figure was around 3.16 crore and the deletions during the SIR process was around 20.12 lakh, which is about 6 per cent of the voter roll.
The deletions were not carried out merely on the basis of not being able to produce any document. The EROs monitored it at their level, to ensure transparency in the process, while we also shared the whole 20 lakh list by booth in the public domain. The booth-level agents (BLAs) of recognised political parties had also given the list of deleted names. We also made it clear that if anyone’s name was deleted by mistake it will be taken back to the roll.
So there was no question of any ‘hera pheri’ (foul play) in the mapping process. I don’t know where the allegation is coming from.
Can you say that not a single eligible voter has been left out of the final roll?
I cannot say that. There could be mistakes or there could be failure on the part of the elector to apply. However, I can say that if a genuine and eligible voter is there we will certainly include the name through submission of Form-6. I would also like to clarify that those who have been removed from the SIR are not permanently removed from the electoral roll. If someone is removed because he was not 18, he can be re-enrolled once he turns 18. Similarly, if somebody was removed because he was not an Indian citizen, he can apply once he gains the Indian citizenship. So getting removed in the SIR is not a permanent bar or disqualification.
There have been allegations of unauthorised use of Form-7 applications, particularly in Dhamnagar, where the AERO was suspended.
We have 45,000 BLOs and more than 1,000 AEROs and the allegations of partiality and political bias are almost nil. However, Dhamnagar was one exception where the AERO, for reasons best known to him, forced the BLOs to share their username and credentials. The BLOs lodged a complaint with the police after which I ordered an inquiry. The collector submitted the report saying it is true and accordingly I recommended for his suspension. The AERO concerned was placed under suspension.
Were there any other places where Form-7 deletion applications were rejected?
Dhamnagar was the only case and it is a crime under IT Act. There were some other places where some people tried to submit more Form-7s but they were never accepted in the verification process.
As I said very clearly, we received only 58,000 Form-7 applications. But I don’t know about the lakhs and lakhs figure and where it came from.
