By Special Correspondent
Bhopal: Madhya Pradesh Leader of the Opposition Umang Singhar has expressed grave concern over widespread system-generated discrepancies that have surfaced after the publication of the draft electoral roll under the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise. In a letter to the Election Commission, he warned that the lack of clarity in the verification process is creating fear and confusion among voters across the state.
Singhar stated that in almost every district, a large number of voters’ names have been placed in so-called discrepancy lists following the draft roll’s release. These include entries citing more than six children, inconsistencies in fathers’ names, age gaps of less than 15 years or more than 50 years between parents and voters, and age differences of less than 40 years between voters and grandparents.
He clarified that these discrepancies are purely data-based, system-generated indicators meant only to flag cases for verification, not to draw conclusions about voter eligibility. However, their sheer scale has affected lakhs of voters, causing anxiety and mental distress.
According to Singhar, Election Commission guidelines require booth-level officers (BLOs) to serve notices, conduct physical verification and provide a hearing before any action is taken. Ground reports, however, suggest delays in notice delivery, lack of procedural clarity among officials and inconsistent practices across districts, deepening fears of arbitrary deletion of names.
Calling the situation a direct threat to citizens’ democratic right to vote, Singhar urged immediate administrative intervention. He demanded clear written instructions to all election officials, a uniform verification process, special training for BLOs, transparent public communication, and regular constituency-wise bulletins detailing verification progress. He termed any potential mass exclusion of genuine voters due to administrative ambiguity as unacceptable in a democracy.
