1.35 crore male, 1.54 crore female voters deleted in S.I.R

Well, amid the debate over SIR, the Election Commission of India has announced a special summary revision, or SSR, of electoral rolls in 17 states and union territories, including five poll-bound states. Well, the exercise aims to enroll eligible voters, correct errors in existing entries, and improve the accuracy of electoral rolls ahead of the upcoming assembly elections. Now, unlike the SIR, the SSR will follow the existing electoral roll revision process. Applicants will not be required to submit additional documents to prove citizenship or establish a link with earlier electoral rolls. The 1st of January, 2027, is the primary qualifying date for this exercise. The Commission will also accept advance applications from those who become eligible to vote on the 1st of April, the 1st of July and the 1st of October next year. Unlike the SIR, the SSR announced this year will not involve house-to-house visits by booth-level officers or the BLOs as part of the revision exercise. Instead, draft and final electoral rolls will be made available at the polling booths, allowing voters to check their details and raise objections where necessary. Well, the revision comes ahead of assembly elections in five states, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Goa and Manipur in 2027. The announcement is also significant because the annual SSR exercise was put on hold last year following the launch of the SIR. The SIR has faced criticism from opposition parties over its verification requirements and the deletion of names from electoral rolls. Well, even as it locks horns with the opposition over the revision of electoral rolls, the SIR exercise has triggered anxiety and alarm within the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party in Uttar Pradesh. Assembly polls, remember, are due early next year in what is the most electorally prized state in Indian politics. But deletion of large number of women voters has sent alarm bells ringing within the Bharatiya Janata Party. Reports suggest state BJP leaders are running pillar to post, launching massive re-registration drives to restore these women voters. Officials have been directed to tighten and even expedite the enrollment system. The party is making an urgent push to restore these vital votes since women form a crucial support and voter base for the BJP. Prior to the SIR exercise in the state, a total of 15.54 crore voters were on the state's electoral rolls. After SIR, the figure came down by over 2 crore to 13.39 crore. Of the 2.04 crore voters deleted from the electoral rolls, 1.54 crore were women, while 1.35 crore were men, meaning 19 lakh more women voters were purged from the polls than men. In recent times, women vote has turned out to be the deciding factor in elections. In Uttar Pradesh, too, women constitute a major chunk of the electorate. After the SIR exercise, there are a little over 6 crore women voters in the state. And while women do not outnumber men on the voting lists, they frequently record higher turnouts than men on election day. In the last assembly polls, women voters recorded higher turnouts than men in over 200 seats. Well, political parties across the spectrum have increasingly courted women voters with targeted welfare schemes, thereby cultivating a new class of voters and women who upset traditional caste and religious equations to emerge as the biggest X factor in elections. Professor Siddharth Mishra is an author and also analyst is now joining us live on this broadcast. Mr. Professor Mishra, thank you very much for making time for We on World as one and welcome to the broadcast. How important is this exercise to include women during voting? And why is Uttar Pradesh one of the flashpoints when it comes to women voters in the country? You see, this whole exercise of SSR proved to be very, very counterproductive in many states, even for the ruling establishment. Whereas, you know, there is still verdict to come on, you know, how correct was this exercise which was carried out in Bengal and in Assam. In the other states, you know, as the things happened, and as you know, even in Delhi, when the SIR exercise was carried out, a large number of people, known personalities, known faces, who must have voted in all the 7, 8, 9, 10 elections, last elections, their names got deleted. And then this whole exercise of restoring the voters has started. Since in Delhi, SIR was still in vogue, so they extended the date and have tried to make amendment here. But whereas in Uttar Pradesh, this exercise was completed about six months back and then when they saw the results coming out and they realized that the deletions have been huge, especially as you rightly said about the women voters. And as you rightly said that women have been voting in large numbers for BJP in various states. So alarm bells were ringing, they rang for the ruling party, and that's the exercise. And I want to add to you something, you know, this exercise is on in Delhi also, and somebody was mentioning to me that his name was deleted from voters' list after submitting a certain number of documents. And then his name was, his notice was served on him, and then the BLO, the block level the booth level officer called on him again and said please re-deposit your same documents and his name was added back in the list. So you see this whole exercise which is being done, the SIR the SSR is not above suspicion. It's been done with certain amount of motive somewhere and the election commission has to come clean on this. And therefore the protest Professor Mishra and therefore the kind of contention that you know people have at the moment but i want to talk about what has been happening today in Delhi and you know there have been detentions that have taken place the protests still continue uh but who do you think is right is the government right in controlling these demonstrations or is the CJP right uh in violating the bond that they sign because they have been saying we are peacefully demonstrating the authorities are not letting them whose side you on? You see, before I answer your question, I wanted to add one more thing. This whole SSR exercise which has been initiated, I would like to know, and the Election Commission has not come clean on it, clear on it, whether it is the decision of the whole commission, are the two other election commissioners on board on this with the chief election commissioner or not? You know, because, you know, in the past decisions, there have not been unanimity, which has been reported and thus this agitation. So sooner or later this point is going to arise that are there two election commissioners on board on this. Secondly, coming to today's demonstration, it was a protest which had to be held and which was held and police after having worked in a very heavy handed manner and having got certain spanking from the Supreme Court of India in this matter you know one of their special commissioner rank officer was summoned into the court and you know made to answer queries it had to go mild on this and allow people to march but having said that there was a certain amount of kind of psychological game also which was played by you know which was played by the cops, you know, because today most of the newspapers had the report of about 6,000 Delhi police cops and 32,000 Central paramilitary forces being on the streets today to control the mob. So that must have, you know, resisted many a people. Secondly, the festival is in full swing now. The Navaratra festival is in very swing now. Today is the Shashti, when the Durga puja actually starts. The idols arrive in the pandals and the dandiyas are in the full swing now but still, you know, it is to the credit of the protesters that despite their top leadership being in jail and DK having been detained today, they still came out on the street, they protested and I am told that from 4 o'clock in the evening till about 6.37 they actually kept traffic in Connaught Place disrupted You know, Professor Mishra, we have also gotten reactions from the Congress Janata Party. They've posted on their ex-handle. In fact, Neha Bora's ex-handle also is questioning where the Delhi police has taken all these detainees. And let me just quote what the CJP has posted. The Delhi police has taken Abhijit Dikshit to an undisclosed location. We've lost contact with him. Why does this government treat youth like terrorists? We want to know where he is. Similar posts from Neha Bora's handle as well. And now, of course, MK Stalin, opposition leader, also questioning where both of them have been taken as far as this strategy is concerned by the opposition how much of this will find resonance on ground because this is a this is an issue that has deeply divided people yeah i think Nehra Bora is going very hyper on this you know i am very sure that Abhijit Dikshit wherever he has been kept by Delhi police would have been kept very comfortably and in good health and good this thing so and he should you know either he would be produced there there's a law in India that, you know, he would be anyway, if he is not released tonight, he has to be produced before a magistrate tomorrow morning in a court. And the courts are working tomorrow. So, you know, and the Delhi police is not bound to keep him connected with the world outside. Now, let's see the position of law also in this case. So, Abhijit has been detained by Delhi police. Anybody who gets detained by Delhi police is not allowed to have, you know, you can make a call to your lawyer or something which the police allows and anyway if he has been detained from a particular man you know habeas corpus issue only arises if he's not produced before a magistrate the next morning and which i think if they don't release him tonight they will produce him before a magistrate tomorrow morning okay okay so we'll have to wait and see how this moves forward we'll leave it there professor mishra thanks very much for joining us on beyond and sharing your perspective thank you thank you so much