New Delhi: Delhi’s Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls has triggered a fresh political row after notices were issued to around 33.1 lakh voters over non-mapping and other discrepancies.

Former Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal and his family are among those issued notices, while Chief Minister Rekha Gupta’s electoral details were subsequently verified, according to election officials.

Why Kejriwal and Gupta received notices

The Delhi Chief Electoral Officer has published details of voters served notices during the SIR exercise under categories including “No Mapping” and “Logical Discrepancies”. Kejriwal and members of his family were categorised under “No Mapping” because their details could not be mapped with the previous SIR records.

Rekha Gupta was also initially flagged, but the election authorities later said her electoral details were verified following physical verification by the designated booth-level officer. Her name is therefore set to remain on the final electoral roll, according to the clarification.

33 lakh voters receive notices

Election authorities have identified around 33.1 lakh electors for notices. Of these, 13,79,785 could not be mapped with the previous SIR records, while 19,33,134 were flagged for logical discrepancies. The names of these voters remain in the draft roll while the discrepancies are addressed through the notice and hearing process.

The draft electoral roll published on August 31 contains 97,53,577 electors, compared with 1,45,10,299 on the rolls as of June 30 — a decline of 32.8%. The exercise has also increased the number of polling stations from 13,033 to 14,947 after rationalisation across Delhi’s 70 Assembly constituencies.

The Aam Aadmi Party questioned why Kejriwal and his family had been flagged. The Election Commission subsequently clarified that the notices did not mean Kejriwal's name had been removed from the electoral roll; rather, his entry was included in the “No Mapping” category because it could not be linked to the previous SIR record.

Supreme Court to hear SIR challenge

The issue comes as the Supreme Court is scheduled to hear a fresh challenge to Delhi's SIR on September 22. The petition concerns the large number of voters affected by the exercise and questions surrounding the notices issued for “No Mapping” and “Logical Discrepancies”.

The immediate significance of the Delhi SIR exercise is its scale. The draft roll has substantially fewer electors than the June 30 roll, while millions of voters whose names remain in the draft have been asked to address discrepancies.

The notices themselves are part of the verification process and do not automatically mean that a voter has been deleted. The next stages of the exercise, including hearings and verification, will determine which entries remain in the final electoral roll.

The controversy has gained additional attention because prominent political figures, including Kejriwal and Gupta, have appeared among the voters flagged for verification. In Gupta's case, the election authorities have already said that her details were subsequently validated.