Rajasthan SIR Row: Congress Flags 45 Lakh ‘Absent’ Voters

New Delhi: The Congress on Monday alleged large-scale irregularities in the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Rajasthan, accusing the BJP of trying to influence the process by targeting voters perceived to support the Opposition. The party demanded a forensic examination of forms used for the deletion of names from the voter list.

Addressing a press conference, Rajasthan Congress president Govind Singh Dotasra, accompanied by the Leader of the Opposition in the State Assembly Tikaram Jully, said the draft electoral rolls released after the SIR exercise showed nearly 45 lakh voters marked as “absent, shifted or deceased”. Objections to the draft rolls were initially invited until January 15.

Dotasra alleged that irregularities increased after January 3 and claimed political interference in the process. Citing data from the Election Commission of India website, he said that between December 17 and January 14, applications were submitted for both addition and deletion of names. He claimed that deletion requests filed by booth-level agents linked to the BJP were significantly higher than those submitted by Congress agents.

The Election Commission last week extended the deadline for filing claims and objections to the draft electoral rolls in Rajasthan, Goa, Lakshadweep, Puducherry and West Bengal until January 19. According to the Commission, the extension was intended to provide additional time to electors whose names were missing from the draft rolls.

The Congress further alleged that unusually large numbers of Form 7 applications seeking deletions were submitted in certain Assembly segments within a short period. Dotasra also claimed that some booth-level officers had publicly stated that signatures on several forms were forged and that the forms were either incomplete or not filled as per prescribed rules.

He said the party had taken up the issue with senior Election Commission officials and urged Congress workers and booth-level agents to remain vigilant to ensure that genuine voters were not removed from the electoral rolls. Jully demanded that the Election Commission and the Supreme Court order a forensic investigation to determine where the forms were printed and who was responsible for submitting them.

The BJP rejected the allegations, calling them baseless and accusing the Congress of attempting to cast doubts over a routine electoral exercise.