S Jaishankar, ex-Army chief, CBI director get SIR notices in Delhi
New Delhi SIR drive: Several serving and retired senior bureaucrats have also received notices over discrepancies or because their current electoral records could not be linked to those prepared during the previous revision.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and his wife, Kyoko Jaishankar, are the latest high-profile voters to receive Election Commission notices under the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in Delhi, joining a growing list of politicians and senior officials whose records have been flagged for verification.
Others on the list include former Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, CBI Director Praveen Sood, former Army chief General Upendra Dwivedi and former Supreme Court judge Ranjana Desai, along with some of their relatives. Two members of former Deputy Prime Minister Lal Krishna Advani’s family have also received notices.
Several serving and retired bureaucrats have been flagged because their records could not be linked to the electoral rolls prepared during the previous revision or because of discrepancies in their names and family details.
Delhi’s Chief Electoral Officer clarified that receiving a notice did not mean that a voter’s name would be removed from the electoral roll.
“System-generated notices are being issued to the above-mentioned categories to correct their data in ECINET. No name can be deleted without giving an opportunity of being heard and a proper, speaking and appealable order,” the CEO said.
JAISHANKAR, SOOD AND DWIVEDI FAMILIES GET NOTICES
Jaishankar and his wife have been placed in the “unmapped with last SIR” category. This means their current records could not be linked to the electoral rolls prepared during the previous revision in 2002.
The couple is registered as voters in the Sunder Bagh electoral part of the New Delhi Assembly constituency.
CBI Director Praveen Sood, his wife Vanita Sood and his mother Kamlesh Sood have been placed in the same category.
Former Army chief General Upendra Dwivedi and his wife, Sunita Dwivedi, have also received notices after their records could not be linked to the previous roll. They are registered as voters in the New Delhi Assembly constituency.
SISODIA FAMILY FLAGGED OVER NAME MISMATCHES
Former Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia and members of his family have also received notices under the SIR exercise. No specific reason was given in the notice issued to the senior Aam Aadmi Party leader.
His wife, Seema Sisodia, was flagged for a “self-name mismatch”, while their son, Meer Sisodia, received a notice over a “parent-name mismatch”.
The latter may have been triggered by the discrepancy identified in his mother’s electoral record.
Sources close to the family claimed they were unaware that the notices had been issued.
LK ADVANI’S DAUGHTER, DAUGHTER-IN-LAW GET NOTICES
Ex-Deputy PM Advani, his daughter Pratibha Advani and daughter-in-law Geetika Advani have received notices after their records could not be mapped to the electoral roll prepared during the previous revision.
Advani was serving as Union Home Minister when the last SIR was conducted in 2002.
His son, Jayant Advani, however, cleared the mapping exercise in the New Delhi Assembly constituency.
FORMER JUDGE, CPM MP’S FAMILY ON LIST
Former Supreme Court judge Ranjana Desai, her husband Prakash Desai, their son and advocate Mike Desai, and daughter-in-law Sakshi Desai have been listed as “unmapped with last SIR”.
The Election Commission has also issued notices to CPM MP John Brittas’s wife, Sheba Brittas, and their son, Anand Brittas. Their records, however, were flagged for different reasons.
As in the case of the Sisodia family, Sheba received a notice for a “self-name mismatch”, while her son Anand was flagged for a “parent-name mismatch”.
Both are registered as voters in the New Delhi Assembly constituency.
SENIOR BUREAUCRATS RECEIVE NOTICES
Several serving and retired IAS officers have received notices either because their records could not be linked to the previous roll or because discrepancies were detected in their details.
Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri, Securities and Exchange Board of India Chairman Tuhin Kanta Pandey, Principal Scientific Adviser to the Prime Minister Ajay Kumar Sood and Health Secretary Punya Salila Srivastava are among those whose records could not be mapped to the previous electoral roll.
The list also includes Fisheries Secretary Abhilaksh Likhi; his wife and Ex-Servicemen Welfare Secretary Sukriti Likhi; Fertiliser Secretary Rajat Kumar Mishra; and Land Resources Secretary Narendra Bhooshan.
Expenditure Secretary Vumlunmang Vualnam was flagged over discrepancies in his name or family details, while Comptroller and Auditor General K Sanjay Murthy received a notice for a “parent-name mismatch”.
WHAT ‘UNMAPPED WITH LAST SIR’ MEANS
An elector is classified as “unmapped with last SIR” when the details in the current electoral roll cannot be linked to the corresponding entry from the previous revision.
Voters whose records cannot be linked, or whose details contain discrepancies, are asked to submit replies and supporting documents to the Electoral Registration Officer concerned.
The Election Commission has said that receiving a notice does not by itself mean that the elector has been declared ineligible or that the person’s name will be deleted.
The Electoral Registration Officer will examine the reply and documents submitted by each voter before passing an order.
The notices are scheduled to be disposed of by October 29, while the final electoral roll is due to be published on November 4.
KEJRIWAL FAMILY ALSO RECEIVED NOTICES
The latest notices come days after former Delhi Chief Minister and AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal and four members of his family were placed in the “unmapped with last SIR” category.
Kejriwal, his wife Sunita Kejriwal, father Gobind Ram Kejriwal, mother Gita Devi and 25-year-old son Pulkit Kejriwal were among those whose records were flagged for verification.
The five were among 110 voters flagged in a segment of Assembly Constituency 40, which covers the New Delhi constituency.
The New Delhi Electoral Registration Officer later said their enumeration forms did not contain all the details required to establish links with the electoral rolls prepared during the previous revision in their respective states.
REKHA GUPTA’S ENTRY VALIDATED
Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta also received a notice during the SIR exercise. Her case involved an age-related discrepancy rather than an inability to link her record to the previous roll.
A Booth Level Officer conducted a physical verification, following which the Election Commission said her documents and electoral details had been verified.
Her entry has since been validated and will be included in the final electoral roll for Assembly Constituency 14, Shalimar Bagh, scheduled to be published on November 4.