Selective Voter Deletions, Violations Of EC Norms In LS Seats Won By BJP: Report (image: x.com/ECISVEEP/)
As allegation over erasure of voters is raised as an important concern by Opposition, a recent Newslaundry investigation by Sumedha Mittal accelerated the doubt regarding the manner of addition and deletion of voters’ names in the electoral rolls. The media organisation conducted surveys in three Lok Sabha constituencies – Farrukhabad, Meerut and Chandni Chowk, where victory margins “varied from thin to large, selecting booths and assemblies with the largest deletion rates.”
In Farrukhabad, BJP leader Mukesh Rajput won the seat by defeating Samajwadi Party leader Dr Naval Kishore Shakya by a thin margin of 2,678 votes. The names of over 32,000 voters were deleted from the rolls, as per Newslaundry‘s finding and deletion rates were much higher in areas comprising Yadav, Muslim, Shakya and Jatav voters in comparison to localities with upper caste voters.
Also Read | Former Haryana CM Om Prakash Chautala Dies At 89
“Fake voters thrive in Meerut,” Newslaundry observes. In the Lok Sabha polls, Arun Govil of the BJP won the seat defeating SP leader Atul Pradhan by a margin of 10,585 votes in Meerut. Their two-booth survey revealed 27 percent of existing voters were fake in the Lok Sabha constituency and than 1 lakh voters were added this year. “And findings from our field visit cast a shadow on certain patterns in both deletions and additions,” Newslaundry adds.
In Delhi’s Chandni Chowk, BJP’s Praveen Khandelwal won the seat defeating JP Agarwal of the Congress by a margin of 89,325 votes. The survey says that in the constituency, Model Town comprising the population of Punjabi and upper caste voters, a deletion of voter percentage was three times lower than assembly segments housing Muslim and backward voters. “Among the three booths with the biggest cuts was one in the Congress candidate’s neighbourhood,” it adds.
The areas with a higher share of voters from religious and caste groups whose chances are less to vote for the BJP has witnessed disproportionate deletions, the survey indicates. “Additionally, the inclusion of new voters needs further and comprehensive scrutiny to identify bogus voters,” Newslaundry observes.
But a significant percent of the deleted voters from Chandni Chowk stated to the media that they had not even been sent a notice about the deletion. In Farrukhabad also, more than 15 percent of those deleted raised the same allegation. “If the same trends were to apply to the entire Lok Sabha seat, wrongful deletions would be nearly double of the BJP’s victory margin,” investigation points out. In the case of Meerut constituency, “odd turnout trends” were located, Newslaundry states.
Also Read | Ambedkar Row: Parliament Adjourned As Opposition Amps Up Protest Against Amit Shah
When the Newslaundry shared the data of disproportionate erasure of voter names with Election Commission (EC), an EC official stated that they do not maintain any data based on people with concerning to their religion or caste, and they only decide upon the Scheduled Caste (SC) constituencies. Meanwhile, former chief election commissioner S.Y. Quraishi told that he sensed the “scope of manipulation of electoral rolls has always been there and the EC is aware of it”.
