A senior Samajwadi Party (SP) official has raised serious concerns about the integrity of the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Noida. The allegations include the listing of deceased voters, numerous entries showing '00' as house numbers, and an unexplained increase in polling booths despite a shrinking electorate.
Multiple Irregularities Flagged in Draft Roll
The party's functionary, Ashray Gupta, filed a formal complaint with the Election Commission of India (ECI) after scrutinising the draft electoral roll published on January 6. He asserted that the poll panel's promise of an error-free voter list has "fallen flat." Gupta highlighted specific issues from the Sarfabad area in Sector 72, sharing images of the voter list with circled names of individuals who are reportedly deceased.
"People who already died are still being found on the voter list," Gupta stated in a post on social media platform X. He questioned how this could happen despite the ECI's protocol requiring Booth Level Officers (BLOs) to visit each voter three times for verification.
A second major anomaly pointed out involves house numbers. Gupta noted that for several voters in Sarfabad, the house number column in the draft list simply shows '00', even after the verification process was supposedly completed. "Even when the BLO got the voter to fill the form and verified and submitted it, how did the (house) number of voters become '00' in the voter list?" he asked.
Controversy Over Polling Booth Rationalisation
The third and perhaps most contentious allegation relates to the rationalisation of polling stations. According to the SP, Noida previously had approximately 7.7 lakh voters spread across 752 booths. After about 2 lakh voters were categorised as ASD (Absent, Shifted, Dead) or marked for deletion, the number of booths should have logically decreased.
Instead, the party alleges, the count has risen to 811 booths. Gupta hinted at political pressure behind these changes, suggesting they favour the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). He told reporters that new booths were created in high-rise societies with barely 200-300 voters, and their locations were shifted from nearby government primary schools or community centres into society clubhouses, sometimes within a 300-metre radius of existing stations.
Election Officials Respond to Allegations
The Chief Electoral Officer's office on X took note of Gupta's claims and tagged the Noida District Magistrate for a response. Anuj Nehra, the Electoral Registration Officer for the Noida assembly constituency, later addressed each issue.
Regarding deceased voters on the list, Nehra explained that the concerned BLOs reported that the enumeration forms were filled by family members who did not disclose the deaths. "Action is being taken in keeping with rules," she assured.
On the '00' house number entries, Nehra termed it a pre-existing error that could not be corrected during the recent drive. She clarified that while Form 8 for address correction was filled and digitised by BLOs, the ECI portal was frozen during the enumeration period, preventing updates. She confirmed the portal is now open and the errors will be rectified before the final voter list is published.
Defending the increase in polling booths, Nehra stated it was done following ECI instructions to enhance voter convenience, especially in densely populated multi-storey societies. "New polling stations were created in society clubhouses so voters needn't travel much," she said, denying any malintent.
The controversy has cast a shadow over the electoral roll revision process in the crucial Noida constituency ahead of future elections, with political parties demanding complete transparency and accuracy from the election machinery.
