Delhi SIR: 33 Lakh Voters Get Notices, L K Advani, EAM Jaishankar, Election Commissioner Sandhu Among Those Flagged

Former deputy prime minister L K Advani, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, former vice-president Jagdeep Dhankhar and Election Commissioner S S Sandhu are among several prominent voters who have received notices over discrepancies in their details during Delhi’s ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.

The notices are part of a large verification exercise following the publication of draft electoral rolls containing more than 97 lakh voters. Officials said notices are being issued to around 33.13 lakh voters whose enumeration forms contain discrepancies or whose details could not be mapped with the previous SIR records.

The Delhi Chief Electoral Officer’s office has stressed that receiving a notice does not mean that a voter’s name will be deleted. The notices are intended to give voters an opportunity to provide documents and clarify their records before the final electoral roll is prepared.

Advani, 98, his daughter Pratibha and daughter-in-law Geetika have been issued notices because their names could not be mapped to the 2002 SIR roll, while his son Jayant has cleared the mapping process. Jaishankar and his wife Kyoko have also received notices under the same category.

Dhankhar and his wife Sudesh, whose voter records carry the address of the Vice-President’s residence, have also been served notices. Sandhu’s case involves a mismatch in his name, while a discrepancy concerning his parent’s name was flagged in the record of his son Damanbir.

Other prominent names on the notice lists include Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri, CBI Director Praveen Sood, SEBI Chairman Tuhin Kanta Pandey, former NITI Aayog vice-chairman Arvind Panagariya, former Delhi deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia, former JNU vice-chancellor M Jagadesh Kumar and former Delhi lieutenant governor Najeeb Jung.

Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta, former chief minister Arvind Kejriwal and Rajya Sabha MP Kapil Sibal are also among those whose records have been flagged. Gupta’s entry has already been validated after verification of documents.

The exercise has also thrown up the case of economist Bibek Debroy, who died in November 2024 but appeared on the notice list because his record was not mapped with the previous SIR. A poll official said his name would be excluded from the final electoral roll.

Officials said voters receiving notices can submit replies and supporting documents to the concerned Electoral Registration Officer or Booth Level Officer. They reiterated that no voter can be deleted without an opportunity to be heard and an appealable order.

The claims and objections phase will continue until September 30, while voters have been asked to submit their responses and documents by October 29. The final electoral roll is scheduled to be published on November 4.