Jagran Bureau, New Delhi: Approximately eight lakh new voters submitted Form-6 applications to enrol in the voter list within seven days of a special campaign launched across 20 states. The initiative, launched by the Election Commission of India (ECI) on October 1, aims to include the names of eligible voters left out during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR).
This special campaign comes amid demand for Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar's resignation over alleged irregularities in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.
Most Of Applicants Are First-Time Voters
Most of these applicants are first-time voters who recently turned 18 years old. These individuals were omitted during the initial SIR exercise because they were either underage at the time or had not filled out applications. Officials have not specified how many of these newly submitted Form-6 applications belong to individuals whose names were previously removed during the revision.
5 Lakh Booth-Level Officers Deployed
Nearly five lakh Booth-Level Officers (BLOs) have been deployed across all 20 states to track deleted entries and register unlisted citizens.
Each officer has been given a weekly target to visit 20 to 25 individuals whose names were removed from the voter list during the SIR exercise. Officials are also tasked with enrolling newly eligible citizens during these door-to-door visits.
Names Of Nearly 13 Crore Voters Removed
The special campaign was launched amid widespread allegations that the names of nearly 13 crore voters were removed from electoral rolls during the initial SIR process. Official data categorises these removed entries into four groups:
Three Crore: Deceased voters
Six Crore: Permanently relocated voters
Three Crore: Absent or untraceable voters
One Crore: Duplicate voters