New Delhi: During the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the voter list in Delhi, the names of several prominent personalities have appeared on the list of voters who have been issued notices by the election authorities. Senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Lal Krishna Advani, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar, former Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar, former Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, Rajya Sabha MP Kapil Sibal, former Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia and several other well-known figures have received SIR notices.

In most cases, the notices were issued because the current voter records could not be linked with the voter list from the previous SIR conducted in 2002, or because discrepancies were found in the details.

The office of Delhi’s Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) released a polling-station-wise list on September 18 of around 1.33 lakh voters who have been issued notices under the SIR. This figure accounts for more than one-third of the approximately 5.97 lakh voters included in Delhi’s draft electoral roll.

External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar and his wife, Kyoko Jaishankar, have also received notices. Their records have been placed in the category of “not mapped to the last SIR.” The names of Mr. Kejriwal and some members of his family could not be mapped with the previous SIR. Former Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar and his wife, Sudesh Dhankhar, have also received notices. Discrepancies were found while linking the information in their voter records with the voter list from the previous SIR.

On September 20, the Delhi Chief Electoral Officer said that notices were being issued to voters included in the draft electoral roll under two categories. The first category comprises voters whose records could not be linked with the voter list from the previous intensive revision. The second category includes voters whose linking details showed logical discrepancies.

The Commission said these are system-generated notices intended to rectify the data. The issuance of a notice does not mean that the concerned voter’s name will be removed from the electoral roll.

According to the Commission, voters whose names or details do not match the previous SIR list will have to submit any one of the 12 documents prescribed by the Election Commission to establish their eligibility. Voters falling under the “logical discrepancy” category will have to verify their current information. The process is aimed at verifying the details recorded in the electoral roll and ensuring that the names of eligible voters remain on the list.

As per the Commission’s schedule, verification of these cases is to be completed by October 29. The final electoral roll for Delhi will then be published on November 4. During the SIR process, the documents and details submitted by voters who receive notices will be scrutinised by the concerned election authorities.