From BJP Veteran Advani to Jaishankar: Big Names Served Notices in Delhi SIR Exercise
The Delhi Chief Electoral Officer's office, however, said the notices are system-generated and intended to allow voters to rectify discrepancies in their details through the ECINET system.
By Sakshi
New Delhi, September 21: Several prominent voters, including former Deputy Prime Minister LK Advani, former Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankhar, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and Election Commissioner SS Sandhu, have been issued notices over discrepancies in their voter details during the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Delhi.
After the publication of draft electoral rolls containing more than 97 lakh voters, around 33.13 lakh electors were flagged for discrepancies in their enumeration forms. A large number of cases involve voter details that could not be matched with the previous SIR electoral rolls of 2002.
Prominent names on the SIR notice list
Rajya Sabha MP Kapil Sibal and his wife have also received notices under the "unmapped with last SIR" category. Sibal has criticised the exercise, referring to it as "special intensive deletion" of votes.
The Delhi Chief Electoral Officer's office, however, said the notices are system-generated and intended to allow voters to rectify discrepancies in their details through the ECINET system. It stressed that receiving a notice does not automatically mean that a voter's name will be deleted from the electoral roll.
The list of voters issued notices has been uploaded on the Delhi CEO's website
Among other prominent names on the list are Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri, former Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, former JNU Vice-Chancellor M Jagadesh Kumar, former Delhi Lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung, former NITI Aayog vice-chairman Arvind Panagariya, SEBI Chairman Tuhin Kanta Pandey, former Army chief General Upendra Dwivedi and CBI Director Praveen Sood.
Advani, 98, his daughter Pratibha and daughter-in-law Geetika were issued notices after their names could not be mapped to the 2002 SIR electoral roll. His son Jayant, however, cleared the mapping process. All four are voters in the New Delhi Assembly constituency.
Jaishankar and his wife, Kyoko Jaishankar, received notices under the "unmapped with last SIR" category. They are registered voters in the Sunehri Bagh area of the New Delhi Assembly constituency.
Former Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankhar and his wife, Sudesh Dhankhar, were also issued notices over discrepancies in their voter records.
A notice citing a name mismatch was issued to Election Commissioner SS Sandhu, while his son Damanbir was also served a notice over a mismatch concerning his parents' names. They are voters in the Delhi Cantonment Assembly constituency.
Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri was issued a notice under the "unmapped with last SIR" category.
Notices were also issued to former Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, his wife Seema and their son Meer. Officials said Meer's notice cited a discrepancy in his parents' names, while Seema's notice referred to a mismatch in her own name. The reason for Sisodia's notice was not specified by the poll body.
Notice does not mean deletion
The Delhi CEO's office said a notice issued during the SIR process does not automatically result in deletion of a voter's name.
According to election officials, voters receiving such notices will have an opportunity to submit their replies and supporting documents to the Electoral Registration Officer (ERO) or Booth Level Officer (BLO) concerned. No name can be removed without giving the voter an opportunity to be heard and issuing an appealable order.
"There is no existential crisis as is being brought out in Social & Print Media," the Delhi CEO's office said.
A senior poll official said the notices were triggered by "logical discrepancies" in information submitted through enumeration forms. Officials said the verification of documents and voter details is underway and eligible voters will be included in the final electoral rolls after due procedure.
Late economist Bibek Debroy also appears on list
The list also includes the name of late economist and former chairman of the Prime Minister's Economic Advisory Council, Bibek Debroy.
Debroy, who was a voter in the New Delhi Assembly constituency, died in November 2024. His entry was marked "unmapped with last SIR".
A senior election official said authorities were aware of his death and that his name would be excluded from the final electoral roll.
Chief Minister, former CM among those flagged
Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta, former Delhi Chief Minister and AAP national convenor Arvind Kejriwal, and senior counsel and former Union minister Kapil Sibal have also been named among voters who received notices during the exercise.
Gupta's case has since been cleared following document verification, and her name will be included in the final electoral roll for the Shalimar Bagh constituency.
The notices form part of the claims and objections stage of the SIR exercise, which ends on September 30. Voters who have received notices are expected to submit their responses and supporting documents to the respective Electoral Registration Officers by October 29.
The final electoral roll is scheduled to be published on November 4.
