Over 1.12 Crore Names Deleted from Electoral Rolls Across 10 States/UTs

New Delhi: With Andhra Pradesh clocking nearly 45 lakh voter deletions and Haryana another 33.8 lakh on Friday, more than 1.12 crore names have been deleted from electoral rolls across the 10 states and Union Territories that have so far published their draft rolls under Phase 3 of Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.

The numbers are likely to swell considerably over the coming days as Karnataka, Telangana, Maharashtra, Punjab and Delhi publish their draft rolls.

Further, there are indications that Karnataka alone could see over 80 lakh deletions, while Jharkhand may record nearly 44 lakh deletions. Major cosmopolitan centres, including Delhi, Bengaluru and Mumbai, are also expected to witness substantial deletions where considerable work-related migration has been reported over years, besides frequent changes of residence within cities. Maharashtra, Delhi and Karnataka are scheduled to publish their draft rolls on August 17. Punjab will follow on August 3, while Jharkhand and Meghalaya will publish their rolls on August 5 and Telangana on August 8.

In the latest round, Andhra Pradesh reported over 10% deletion rate, with 44.89 lakh names removed from its pre-SIR electorate of 4.16 crore. The state recorded the maximum deletions, with 22 lakh names in the "absent/shifted" category besides 15.22 lakh deaths.

Haryana, meanwhile, reported a deletion rate of over 16%, with 33.8 lakh names removed from its pre-SIR roll of 1.72 crore voters.

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The highest deletion rate so far has been recorded in the UTs of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu at 29%, followed by Arunachal Pradesh at 19% and Haryana at 16%. In terms of numbers, TDP-ruled Andhra Pradesh has posted the highest deletions at about 45 lakh, followed by BJP-ruled Haryana and Odisha.

Across states and UTs, the bulk of deletions have been attributed to electors who may have shifted residences. The SIR 3.0 exercise covers 36.73 crore electors across 19 states and UTs, leaving only the Himalayan states/UTs of Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh, Himachal Pradesh, besides Assam which are yet to begin the exercise.

The final electoral rolls across SIR 3.0 states and UTs will be published between September and December, as per the Election Commission's schedule.

The ECI has already revised timelines and granted extensions in several states for various reasons including requests from Chief Electoral Officers and representations by state governments seeking relaxations from the Supreme Court.