Overview
- A bench led by Chief Justice Surya Kant directed the Election Commission to publicly display and upload names deleted in Kerala’s draft rolls and suggested extending the objection window by about two weeks.
- The Court asked the Commission to examine a note from Barabanki MP Tanuj Punia highlighting that Uttar Pradesh’s rural voter tally recorded by the State Election Commission exceeds the total voters shown by the ECI’s SIR.
- Official data show Uttar Pradesh’s January 6 draft lists 12.55 crore voters with 2.89 crore deletions, while field reporting from Meerut documents residents who say their names were removed despite continued residency.
- Opposition parties escalated allegations, with AAP claiming over 4.5 crore names were removed in a month in Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan Congress leaders, including Ashok Gehlot, alleging mass Form 7 filings to strike Congress-leaning voters as Rajasthan reports about 42 lakh deletions.
- The Election Commission reiterated adherence to its prescribed documents by declining West Bengal’s proposal to accept Class 10 admit cards for voter verification during the SIR.