The Congress in Uttarakhand has announced a booth-level review of 97,186 voter names removed after the state’s Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process. The party says the exercise will determine how many deletions involved ineligible voters and how many affected eligible citizens.
The review was announced by Manoj Rawat, chairman of the Congress SIR committee. He referred to figures from different stages of the electoral roll revision and raised questions about the deletion process, including the handling of objections filed through Form-7.
The currently published final roll contains 71,58,929 voters, according to Rawat. He said the figure is still subject to the addition of service voters and is 25,164 higher than the draft roll.
Congress questions Form-7 process
Rawat said 96,704 Form-7 applications were filed to seek deletion of names. According to his account, only 7,523 names were ultimately removed through that route, representing about 7.78% of the applications.
The Congress leader claimed that notices were sent to people linked to the objections, but no objector appeared during the subsequent verification process. The party has described this as a serious irregularity and is seeking closer scrutiny of the circumstances behind the filings.
Rawat also said around 25 lakh voters received notices connected with anomalies, logical discrepancies and non-mapping during the SIR exercise. Of these, 97,186 voters allegedly did not submit replies. The Congress claims that Form-7 was then generated in these cases and that the corresponding names were removed.
The party’s proposed booth-wise inquiry will focus on these 97,186 cases. It plans to compare the deleted names with local records to assess whether the voters were genuinely ineligible or were removed because of a procedural problem or misunderstanding.
Party combines figures from several stages
The Congress has presented a broader estimate by adding deletions reported at different points in the revision process. Rawat said more than 5 lakh names were removed in the pre-SIR round conducted before January 2025.
He further claimed that around 8.26 lakh names were deleted during the SIR process under categories including absent, shifted, dead and duplicate. A further 1.04 lakh names were removed between the draft and final rolls, according to the party’s figures.
On that basis, the Congress says nearly 14.99 lakh voter names were removed from Uttarakhand’s rolls after January 2025. The figure is a party claim based on its consolidation of separate stages, rather than an independently established finding in the available material.
Assembly constituencies under focus
Rawat claimed that, in some constituencies, the number of Form-7 applications exceeded the victory margin recorded in the previous election. He cited Kichha, Haldwani and Manglaur among the areas requiring attention, while also referring to other constituencies.
The Congress says such constituencies should receive detailed booth-level scrutiny when the volume of deletion requests is close to or higher than the earlier winning margin. It has framed the exercise as an effort to protect the names of eligible voters before the electoral process advances.
The party has also questioned the Election Commission’s special drive for adding names. Rawat argued that calling it a “special drive” was inappropriate because applications through Form-6 normally remain available until the election notification is issued.
According to the Congress, the electoral roll now contains changes across several stages and will require systematic checking. a response from the Election Commission to the party’s allegations is not yet available.
Conclusion
The next stated step is a booth-wise Congress review of 97,186 deleted names, while the party continues to question the wider deletion figures and Form-7 verification process.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q. What is the Congress planning to investigate?
The party plans to examine 97,186 deleted voter names at polling-booth level.
Q. Who announced the proposed review?
Manoj Rawat, chairman of the Congress SIR committee, announced the plan.
Q. How many voters are currently listed in the final roll?
The currently published list contains 71,58,929 voters, excluding service voters still to be added.
Q. What does Congress claim about deletions since January 2025?
The party claims that nearly 14.99 lakh names were removed across different stages after January 2025.
Q. How many Form-7 applications were filed?
According to Rawat, 96,704 Form-7 applications were submitted and 7,523 names were removed through that route.
Q. Which constituencies did Rawat mention?
He referred to Kichha, Haldwani and Manglaur, along with other assembly constituencies.
Q. What has Congress said about Form-6 applications?
Rawat said applications to add names through Form-6 normally continue until the election notification is issued.
