More than 95,000 Form 7 applications in Uttarakhand’s ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls have been marked under the “ineligible” category, according to the office of the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO).
The figure represents more than half of the nearly 1.73 lakh Form 7 applications received during the revision exercise. Form 7 is used for seeking deletion of a name from the electoral roll.
According to the Uttarakhand CEO’s office, the “ineligible” classification relates to voters who had been identified through the verification process but either did not furnish the documents sought during their hearing or did not appear personally or through a family member.
In such cases, the concerned Electoral Registration Officer (ERO) or Assistant Electoral Registration Officer (AERO) marks the case as “ineligible” on the election system, following which a Form 7 application is automatically generated for deletion, the CEO’s office said.
The clarification comes amid scrutiny over the unusually high number of Form 7 applications received during Uttarakhand’s SIR. Earlier data had shown that more than 85% of the applications were concentrated in four districts — Udham Singh Nagar, Haridwar, Dehradun and Nainital.
Editorial Analysis
Why This Matters
The figures have drawn attention because Form 7 applications are directly connected with requests for deletion from electoral rolls. However, the “ineligible” classification should not be interpreted as confirmation that more than 95,000 voters have already been permanently removed from the electoral roll. The final electoral roll is scheduled to be published on October 3, making the remaining claims, objections and inclusion requests important for the final outcome.
The election authorities have stressed that the number of Form 7 applications by itself does not establish that all the names concerned have been deleted. A Form 7 application is subject to the prescribed verification and electoral-roll process.
Opposition Response:
The Congress has raised allegations of irregularities in the Form 7 process in Uttarakhand. Congress leaders have questioned the large concentration of deletion-related applications in certain constituencies and alleged misuse of Form 7.
Congress leaders have cited individual cases in which objections were allegedly filed against voters who said they had not submitted such objections. The party has also raised concerns over large numbers of objections being filed by a small number of individuals in parts of Udham Singh Nagar. These are political allegations and have not been established as findings of the Election Commission.
The BJP and election authorities have offered different explanations for the geographic concentration of Form 7 applications. BJP leaders have attributed the pattern principally to migration and population movement in the state’s more populous districts, while election officials have cautioned against drawing conclusions from application numbers alone.
