Madhya Pradesh's Voter Roll Update: What to Expect from the Upcoming Draft

Electoral Roll Draft Release in Madhya Pradesh

In New Delhi, the Election Commission of India (ECI) is set to unveil the draft electoral roll for Madhya Pradesh on Tuesday, following a comprehensive door-to-door Special Intensive Revision (SIR) initiative that lasted over six weeks.

Sources from the Chief Electoral Office (CEO) in Madhya Pradesh indicated that approximately 41.8 lakh voters, representing about 7.2% of the total electorate, may be removed from the rolls based on initial evaluations.

The preliminary findings reveal that out of the flagged names, 8.4 lakh voters are deceased, another 8.4 lakh were marked as absent, 22.5 lakh have relocated, and 2.5 lakh are registered at multiple addresses.

In Bhopal, which has 21.25 lakh registered voters, around 4.3 lakh names (20.23%) are expected to be excluded from the draft electoral rolls.

Indore, with 28.67 lakh voters, may see 4.4 lakh names flagged, while Gwalior could lose 2.5 lakh names from its 16.49 lakh electorate, and Jabalpur might see a reduction of 2.4 lakh names from 19.25 lakh.

It is important to note that these figures are preliminary estimates, and the final count of deleted voters will be confirmed once the ECI publishes the official draft on Tuesday.

The ECI has also extended the timeline for the ongoing SIR process in five states, including Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Chhattisgarh, Uttar Pradesh, and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, moving the deadline from December 11.

Since November 4, over 65,000 Booth Level Officers (BLOs) have been engaged in verifying voter information, with more than 6.65 crore voters registered in Madhya Pradesh in 2023.

Madhya Pradesh comprises 230 Assembly seats and 29 Lok Sabha constituencies across 55 districts, organized into 10 divisions, including Bhopal, Gwalior, Indore, and Jabalpur.

Throughout the SIR process, the opposition Congress party in Madhya Pradesh has consistently criticized the ECI's actions, alleging political bias.

On Monday, a group of Congress representatives visited the Chief Electoral Officer in Bhopal to report alleged irregularities in the SIR process.