Daijiworld Media Network – New Delhi

New Delhi, Sep 11: As many as 728 voters from a jhuggi-jhopri cluster at Bela Estate were excluded from Delhi’s draft electoral roll after their homes were demolished, poll officials said on Thursday.

The clarification came after reports highlighted that 728 of the 729 voters registered at Part No. 38, JJ Bela Estate-Vijay Ghat, under the Chandni Chowk Assembly constituency, were missing from the draft roll published on August 31.

The cluster, located on the western bank of the Yamuna in the ecologically sensitive Zone O, had 729 registered voters before the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls began. Only one voter’s name remained in the draft roll, resulting in a deletion rate of nearly 99.8 per cent.

According to the Electoral Registration Officer (ERO), a review of the electoral roll for the earlier polling station No. 33 found that most voters’ addresses were recorded simply as “Agriculture”, while house numbers were available only for a few electors.

Officials said many residents had been engaged in agricultural activities in and around the Yamuna Bank area. The ERO office described the cultivation as “illegal” and said it was discontinued in 2021. The dwelling units in the area were subsequently demolished in 2022-23.

“As a result, the physical and residential status of the area has undergone substantial changes since the preparation of the earlier electoral records,” the ERO office said.

During the SIR exercise, Booth Level Officers (BLOs) were required to conduct house-to-house visits to distribute and collect enumeration forms. However, in Bela Estate, the demolition of the houses meant the voters were no longer residing at the addresses recorded in the electoral roll.

The ERO office said their status as “Ordinary Resident” had consequently changed, and the BLO had placed them in the ‘absent, shifted, dead or duplicate’ (ASDD) category.

Officials clarified that exclusion from the draft electoral roll does not prevent eligible voters from seeking inclusion again. Those meeting the eligibility criteria can apply through Form 6 along with the documents prescribed by the Election Commission of India.

The claims and objections period will remain open until September 30, while the final electoral roll is scheduled to be published on November 4.