This is part 2 of Newslaundry’s investigation into voter deletions in Kichha, Uttarakhand. A BJP booth-level agent filed Form 7 objections that he said were accepted on ECI’s directions. Here, we speak to voters whose names are missing from the final roll.

In Sirauli Kalan, a Muslim-dominated urban locality in the Kichha assembly constituency in Uttarakhand, Newslaundry met Kulsum, a 25-year-old mother of two, against whom Rajesh Tiwari, a BJP booth-level agent (BLA), filed a Form 7 objection and whose name was subsequently deleted from the final voter list. She didn’t even know her name had been deleted from the voter list until we met her. 

Against her name, Tiwari's objection was “Already Enrolled” (in another state as a voter). But the notice she got from the local electoral registration officer (ERO) office stated a different reason. The notice says, “The age gap between you and your parents is more than 50 years, whose details were used to link you to the voter list prepared during the previous SIR, it appears that this has occurred due to incorrect mapping.” 

After receiving the notice in August, Kulsum submitted her Aadhaar card, a copy of the family register certificate, ration card and details from the 2002-03 voter list. “After submitting these documents, the official told me, ‘Now your name will be corrected in the voter list,’ but my name was deleted anyway,” she said. 

Kulsum and her mother-in-law

Asif, a 34-year-old resident of Kichha, found his name in the draft electoral roll, but it was missing from the final voter list. The Form 7 objection filed by Tiwari against Asif’s name stated that he was “already enrolled”.

Asif’s brother, Arif, told Newslaundry, “We received a notice from the ERO, so we submitted our documents. Still, our name is missing from the electoral roll,” he said.

The reason stated in the notice, however, was different from the one in Tiwari’s objection. It said Asif’s details did not match the 2002-03 voter list and asked him to appear before the ERO to present his case. The family said they submitted their documents in response.

The final voter list also omitted the names of three members of the same family: 33-year-old Sahid, his father Mohammad Salim (70), and his mother Kamar Jahan (65). All three were registered at booth number 134 in Kichha. Tiwari was the objector here too.

Sahid and his father, Salim, run a small restaurant in Sirauli Kalan. Salim was born in Pilibhit, Uttar Pradesh, but moved to Kichha with his family 35-40 years ago, and says that his name had been deleted from the Pilibhit voter list long ago because he had moved away.  

(L-R) Sahid, his father Salim and his mother Kamar Jahan

All three received notices from the ERO’s office stating that their details did not match the 2002-03 voter list.........

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