Over 95,000 of 1.73 Lakh Form-7 Deletion Requests in Uttarakhand SIR Marked 'Ineligible'

Current Summary

According to a September 24-25 Hindustan Times report, a September 25 India Today report and a September 25 TheWire.in report citing the Uttarakhand Chief Electoral Officer's office, over 95,000 of the nearly 1.73 lakh Form-7 applications filed during the state's ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls fall in the 'ineligible' category. CEO BVRC Purshottam said these voters had logical discrepancy cases: when they failed to furnish documents sought during verification or did not appear for a hearing themselves or through a family member, the concerned Electoral Registration Officer or Assistant Electoral Registration Officer marked them ineligible, automatically generating a Form 7 for deletion via ECI-Net; once an ERO clicks Form 7 for deletion, there is no rollback provision. The CEO's office says these voters can seek inclusion in the roll after the final publication by submitting Form 6, but that form is intended for new voters — those turning 18 or voting for the first time — and requires documentary proof, meaning those previously registered may struggle to prove first-time status and could face legal exposure for misrepresentation. The SIR draft roll released July 14 had dropped over 8.26 lakh people, more than 10 percent, from a pre-SIR roll of 79 lakh voters, and flagged 19 lakh people for logical discrepancies who were required to appear before election authorities with papers. Hearings on claims and objections are currently underway, with the final electoral roll scheduled for publication on October 3. The clarification follows reports that more than 85 percent of an earlier count of 1,30,382 Form-7 applications came from four districts — Udham Singh Nagar, Haridwar, Dehradun and Nainital. The BJP has attributed the pattern chiefly to population movement and migration, while the Congress has levelled allegations of large-scale irregularities in the SIR exercise. On September 25, the Uttarakhand Congress staged a protest march from its Pradesh office to the Secretariat and gheraoed the Election Commission office in Dehradun, burning an effigy of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar. Leaders including PCC president Ganesh Godiyal, AICC state in-charge Kumari Selja, Leader of Opposition Yashpal Arya, former CM Harish Rawat, Karan Mahara, Bhuvan Kapri, Govind Singh Kunjwal, Pradeep Tamta and Vikram Singh Negi took part, and the party submitted a memorandum to the President of India demanding the CEC's removal and arrest, as part of a nationwide AICC-called protest.

What Changed

• 25 Sept, 07:41 pm
  According to a September 25 ANI report, the Uttarakhand Congress staged a protest march from the party's Pradesh office to the Secretariat and gheraoed the Election Commission office in Dehradun, burning an effigy of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar. Party leaders including PCC president Ganesh Godiyal, AICC state in-charge Kumari Selja, Leader of Opposition Yashpal Arya, former CM Harish Rawat, CWC member Karan Mahara, Deputy Leader of Opposition Bhuvan Kapri, former Assembly Speaker Govind Singh Kunjwal, former MP Pradeep Tamta and Discipline Committee chairman Vikram Singh Negi took part. The party submitted a memorandum to the President of India demanding the removal and arrest of the CEC, alleging serious questions over the impartiality of the Election Commission amid the SIR exercise. The protest was held as part of a nationwide programme called by the AICC.
• 25 Sept, 06:02 pm
  Congress held a protest across Uttarakhand on September 25 demanding the resignation of the Chief Election Commissioner over the state's Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise.
• 25 Sept, 12:20 pm
  The CEO's office has clarified that voters marked 'ineligible' can seek inclusion in the electoral roll after the October 3 final publication by submitting Form 6, though this form is designed for new voters — those turning 18 or voting for the first time — and requires documentary proof, meaning previously registered voters dropped for 'logical discrepancy' may struggle to qualify or could face scrutiny for misrepresenting their status.
• 25 Sept, 05:40 am
  The Uttarakhand CEO's office confirmed the roughly 95,000 'ineligible' Form-7 cases were auto-generated by ECI-Net once an ERO or AERO marked a voter ineligible, with no rollback provision once the form is generated. The final electoral roll is scheduled for publication on October 3, with hearings on claims and objections currently underway. The Congress has levelled allegations of large-scale irregularities in the SIR process.
• 25 Sept, 04:10 am
  The Uttarakhand CEO's office has provided further context on the SIR Form-7 numbers: the draft electoral roll released July 14 dropped over 8.26 lakh names (more than 10 percent) from a pre-SIR roll of 79 lakh voters, and flagged 19 lakh people for logical discrepancies, who were required to appear before election authorities with documents. The 95,000 voters marked 'ineligible' are drawn from this logical-discrepancy pool — those who failed to produce documents or did not appear for hearings themselves or through family.
• 24 Sept, 04:01 pm
  Signal detected: Over 95,000 of 1.73 Lakh Form-7 Deletion Requests in Uttarakhand SIR Marked 'Ineligible'