Capital gears up for SIR expected in April

NEW DELHI: The training of polling officials has already been completed for a special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Delhi that is likely to begin from April, officials said on Thursday.

The Election Commission has asked 22 states and Union territories to complete preparatory work related to the SIR exercise at the earliest, as the exercise is "expected to start from April". In a letter to the chief electoral officers of the states and UTs, including Delhi, the EC said that the pan-India SIR of the voters' list was ordered in June last year.

The political parties, including the BJP and Congress, stated their organisational preparation was complete for the exercise.

Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva said that SIR will pave the way for removing names of "undesirable and ineligible" voters from the electoral rolls of the capital.

"BJP has constituted teams of workers at both the state and district levels to assist voters in resolving any issues they may face during the SIR process," he said, adding that each team also includes a lawyer to provide legal support.

The BJP will extend full cooperation to the EC to ensure that the names of all Bangladeshi and Rohingya settlers illegally residing in Delhi are removed from the voters' list, he added. Delhi Congress communication department head Anil asserted that the party is organisationally prepared for the SIR exercise in Delhi.

State president Devender Yadav, however, said, "Ideologically, we oppose the manner in which the SIR was conducted, particularly in Bihar. It has even been challenged in the Supreme Court. We are against that approach. However, in terms of booth-level preparedness, we are fully ready," he said.

The voters of Delhi will have to present an identity proof if their names do not appear in the voter list of 2002, as the poll panel begins preparations for the rollout of the SIR exercise in the national capital, the dates of which will be announced later.

The office of the Delhi chief electoral officer (CEO) started preparations for SIR in the city last year itself.

Training of the polling officials, comprising district election officers, electoral registration officers, assistant electoral registration officers and booth-level officers, has also been completed, officials said.

The CEO's office has already requested people to go through the voter list of 2002 to verify their and their parents' names.

During the SIR, the BLOs will make door-to-door visits, collecting enumeration forms. Those whose names appear in the voter lists of 2002 and 2025 shall have to submit only the enumeration forms along with the voter list of 2002.

In cases where the name of an elector does not appear in the voter list of 2002 but his parents' names do, he will have to submit an identity proof, along with the enumeration form and an extract of the voter list of 2002 in respect of his parents, the officials added.

The voter list of SIR conducted in 2002 has been uploaded on the Delhi CEO website. After a special summary revision-2025, released by the Delhi CEO's office last year, there were 1.55 crore registered voters in Delhi, including 83.49 lakh males, 71.73 lakh females and 1,261

third-gender voters.