Why Odisha SIR deleted 2 million voters in draft roll phase
The Opposition BJD claims 700,000 more names have disappeared while the Congress demands greater scrutiny of the revision process
The assembly segment, where many Bengali-speaking families displaced from present-day Bangladesh were rehabilitated by the Odisha government in the 1950s and again in the 1980s, saw deletions amounting to 10.96 per cent of its electorate. Before the revision, Malkangiri had 252,147 registered voters.
Across the state, around 2.01 million electors were removed from the draft electoral roll published on July 5 after a door-to-door verification conducted between May 30 and June 28. The total electorate has consequently fallen from 33,399,591 to 31,387,034.
The district-wise break-up released by the Election Commission shows Ganjam recorded the highest number of deletions at 207,626, followed by Cuttack (155,164), Mayurbhanj (150,014), Deogarh (95,566) and Dhenkanal (91,267). Several of these districts are known for large-scale seasonal migration linked to finding work.
At the assembly level, besides Malkangiri, Sambalpur (28,542), Bhubaneswar North (28,407), Niali (28,282), Junagarh (27,653), Choudwar-Cuttack (26,462) and Sonepur (23,288) also reported more than 20,000 deletions each. Overall, 40 of Odisha’s 147 assembly constituencies witnessed over 15,000 deletions.
The data, however, does not indicate a clear urban-rural pattern. While urban constituencies such as Bhubaneswar North figured among those with high deletions, several predominantly rural and migration-prone constituencies also recorded similar trends. Districts such as Nuapada, Subarnapur, Boudh, Deogarh and Khurda reported the lowest percentage of deletions.
Chief electoral officer R.S. Gopalan said the revision covered 31.3 million electors, accounting for 93.97 per cent of the electorate. “The draft electoral roll comprises 16,019,176 male voters, 15,365,083 female voters and 2,775 third-gender electors,” Gopalan said.
Explaining the deletions, he said 832,000 electors (2.49 per cent) were identified as deceased, 100,700 (3.02 per cent) had either shifted residence or remained absent during verification and 158,000 (0.47 per cent) were found to have duplicate enrolments. Another 14,000 names were excluded after enumeration forms were not submitted by the deadline.
“Genuine electors whose names are missing from the draft electoral roll can still apply for inclusion during the claims and objections period, from July 5 to August 4,” Gopalan said, adding that duplicate entries would be retained only at one location after due verification.
Additional chief electoral officer Sushanta Kumar Mishra said a large proportion of deletions reflected routine electoral roll cleansing. “Abnormality was noticed in the first phase as names of electors who had died had to be deleted while 100,700 voters were either absent or had shifted. All those whose names do not find a place in the draft roll will be provided adequate opportunities for appeal,” Mishra said.
The Election Commission has emphasised that deletions in the draft are not final. Under SIR guidelines, any elector whose name is missing can file Form 6 along with supporting documents during the claims and objections period. The applications will be scrutinised by electoral registration officers before the final electoral roll is published on September 6.
The draft roll has nevertheless triggered a political controversy. The Opposition Biju Janata Dal (BJD) alleged nearly 2.7 million names had disappeared from the electoral rolls—higher than the Election Commission’s figure of around 2 million exclusions. The Congress expressed concern over the scale of deletions and demanded greater scrutiny of the revision process.
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The assembly segment, where many Bengali-speaking families displaced from present-day Bangladesh were rehabilitated by the Odisha government in the 1950s and again in the 1980s, saw deletions amounting to 10.96 per cent of its electorate. Before the revision, Malkangiri had 252,147 registered voters.
Across the state, around 2.01 million electors were removed from the draft electoral roll published on July 5 after a door-to-door verification conducted between May 30 and June 28. The total electorate has consequently fallen from 33,399,591 to 31,387,034.
The district-wise break-up released by the Election Commission shows Ganjam recorded the highest number of deletions at 207,626, followed by Cuttack (155,164), Mayurbhanj (150,014), Deogarh (95,566) and Dhenkanal (91,267). Several of these districts are known for large-scale seasonal migration linked to finding work.
At the assembly level, besides Malkangiri, Sambalpur (28,542), Bhubaneswar North (28,407), Niali (28,282), Junagarh (27,653), Choudwar-Cuttack (26,462) and Sonepur (23,288) also reported more than 20,000 deletions each. Overall, 40 of Odisha’s 147 assembly constituencies witnessed over 15,000 deletions.
The data, however, does not indicate a clear urban-rural pattern. While urban constituencies such as Bhubaneswar North figured among those with high deletions, several predominantly rural and migration-prone constituencies also recorded similar trends. Districts such as Nuapada, Subarnapur, Boudh, Deogarh and Khurda reported the lowest percentage of deletions.
Chief electoral officer R.S. Gopalan said the revision covered 31.3 million electors, accounting for 93.97 per cent of the electorate. “The draft electoral roll comprises 16,019,176 male voters, 15,365,083 female voters and 2,775 third-gender electors,” Gopalan said.
Explaining the deletions, he said 832,000 electors (2.49 per cent) were identified as deceased, 100,700 (3.02 per cent) had either shifted residence or remained absent during verification and 158,000 (0.47 per cent) were found to have duplicate enrolments. Another 14,000 names were excluded after enumeration forms were not submitted by the deadline.
“Genuine electors whose names are missing from the draft electoral roll can still apply for inclusion during the claims and objections period, from July 5 to August 4,” Gopalan said, adding that duplicate entries would be retained only at one location after due verification.
Additional chief electoral officer Sushanta Kumar Mishra said a large proportion of deletions reflected routine electoral roll cleansing. “Abnormality was noticed in the first phase as names of electors who had died had to be deleted while 100,700 voters were either absent or had shifted. All those whose names do not find a place in the draft roll will be provided adequate opportunities for appeal,” Mishra said.
The Election Commission has emphasised that deletions in the draft are not final. Under SIR guidelines, any elector whose name is missing can file Form 6 along with supporting documents during the claims and objections period. The applications will be scrutinised by electoral registration officers before the final electoral roll is published on September 6.
The draft roll has nevertheless triggered a political controversy. The Opposition Biju Janata Dal (BJD) alleged nearly 2.7 million names had disappeared from the electoral rolls—higher than the Election Commission’s figure of around 2 million exclusions. The Congress expressed concern over the scale of deletions and demanded greater scrutiny of the revision process.
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