Congress MP and Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi has raised questions over the deletion of voter names from Delhi’s Bela Estate during the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.
Gandhi visited a settlement near the Yamuna in Bela Estate on Monday and spoke to residents about their names being missing from the draft electoral roll. He later shared a video of his visit and an interaction with a Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM).
Rahul Gandhi questions deletion of voter names
Gandhi claimed that 728 people living in Bela Estate had been listed as voters, but following the SIR exercise, only one name remained on the electoral roll while 727 names were removed.
He said the residents had been living in the area for several years and had also voted in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections and the 2025 Delhi Assembly elections.
Gandhi also questioned the deletion of names after the residents’ homes were demolished in 2023. He argued that the absence of a permanent house should not prevent a person from having voting rights.
In his post, Gandhi criticised Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over the issue and alleged that the voter deletions amounted to “vote theft”.
Election Commission explains why names were removed
The Election Commission said the issue had already been addressed by the concerned Electoral Registration Officer.
According to the poll panel, Bela Estate falls under polling station number 38, formerly polling station 33. The area is located on the western bank of the Yamuna, where agricultural activity had stopped in 2021. The dwelling units in the area were demolished during 2022-23.
The Election Commission said Booth Level Officers subsequently marked the affected voters as having demolished structures or dwellings because they were no longer living at their registered addresses. This resulted in 728 names being removed from the electoral roll.
The poll panel also said that some of the affected residents later moved to temporary tents beneath the Geeta Colony Bridge.
496 applications received at special camps
The Election Commission said people who are homeless can still be enrolled as voters under the relevant provisions of the Representation of the People Act, 1950.
Special camps were organised at JJ Bela Estate and Vijay Ghat on September 18 and 20. The ECI said 496 Form 6 applications were received during these camps.
The applications are being processed and will be decided after verification by Booth Level Officers. Eligible applicants will subsequently be enrolled at their current places of residence.
The Election Commission has also extended the deadline for filing claims and objections in Delhi until October 30, 2026. Eligible voters whose names are missing from the draft electoral roll can submit Form 6 for enrolment.
The applications can be submitted physically to the ERO, AERO, BLO or designated polling locations. They can also be submitted online through the Election Commission’s voter services system and the ECINET mobile application.
