NEW DELHI: The opposition on Wednesday launched a broadside against Election Commission and Bharatiya Janata Party after 2.89 crore electors were deleted from the draft voter list in Uttar Pradesh after special intensive revision.Congress state president Ajay Rai called for an inquiry alleging a “big conspiracy.”“The removal of 2.89 crore voters (from UP SIR draft list) is a matter of inquiry. 1.13 crore forms, which were not returned. This is a big conspiracy, and a probe should be done,” Rai said.
Congress MP Pramod Tiwari also attacked BJP and termed the deletion of names from the draft list as “murder of democracy.”“The worry the Congress party had expressed has proved correct. Names of around three crore voters have been removed. This is a murder of democracy,” Tiwari said.“No matter what the BJP does, it is certain that the BJP will be wiped out from UP,” it added.Meanwhile, Samajwadi Party also questioned the role of Election Commission, asserting that it must function impartiallyUttar Pradesh SP chief Shyam Lal Pal alleged irregularities during the recent elections in nine assembly constituencies in the state and said, “Recently, elections were held in nine assembly constituencies in Uttar Pradesh. In those elections, voters were prevented from reaching the polling booths in various ways, sometimes by the police, sometimes by officials, and at several booths, it was even observed that the presiding officers themselves were casting votes at the government’s behest. This is the murder of democracy.”SP leader Fakhrul Hasan Chaand also weighed in on the issue and said that his party would remain vigilant to ensure that PDA (Picchda, Dalit, Alpsankhyak) voters are not excluded from the electoral process.“Samajwadi Party has been doing the work of protecting PDA votes, and we will continue to do so. Samajwadi Party is vigilant on this issue, and we will not let PDA vote be left out,” Chand said.According to the Election Commission, about 2.9 crore electors, making up 18.7% of Uttar Pradesh’s 15.4 crore electorate, have been struck off the state’s draft electoral roll published on Tuesday.UP’s draft electoral roll published following the enumeration phase of SIR-Phase 2 lists over 12.5 crore electors; while deleting 46.2 lakh (2.99%) on account of being deceased; 2.17 crore (14.1%) for having permanently shifted or found untraceable or absent during visits by the booth level officers (BLOs); and 25.5 lakh (1.6%) for being enrolled at multiple places.Addressing the press, UP CEO Navdeep Rinwa said, “The number of enumeration forms we received was approximately 12 crore, 55 lakh. This means that this many people returned the forms signed, indicating that their names should be included in the draft list. There were 46.23 lakh such deceased voters. “There are 2.17 crore voters who have migrated, those who have shifted from their place of residence, who have left the house where they were residing when they registered their name in the voter list, and have permanently moved, or are missing or absent, or could not be found by the BLOs in the field. There were 25.47 lakh voters whose names were registered in more than one place on the voter list. In total, 2.89 crore names were not included in the draft voter list,” Rinwa added.The claims and objections period has been set for January 6, 2026, to February 6, 2026. Any existing or prospective elector may file claims or objections for inclusion of eligible electors or deletion of ineligible names.A total of 403 EROs and 2042 AEROs are in position to scrutinise such cases by February 27, 2026. In addition to that, Additional AEROs have been notified as per the requirement to dispose off the claims and objections, within the prescribed time limit.
