Congress Launches Website to Check SIR Deletions

The party says Iamvoterakshak.in will let people verify their names and apply for restoration, as its campaign against the Election Commission’s voter-roll revision continues.

The Congress has launched a website to help voters check whether their names were deleted during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls and to seek restoration. Announcing the initiative, Congress general secretary (organisation) K.C. Venugopal said the website, Iamvoterakshak.in, would allow citizens to verify their names and formally protest against deletions by applying for restoration.

What the Congress Says the Website Does

According to Venugopal, the portal has two purposes: to let people check whether they have been deleted from the rolls, and to let them register a formal objection by applying for restoration.

The website is part of the Congress’s wider “Vote Bachao, Desh Bachao” campaign. Venugopal said at the weekend that the party would run the campaign at the panchayat level over the next month and a half. It also plans to appoint a “Vote Rakshak” (voter guardian) at every polling booth, who would scrutinise the rolls, identify deleted names and visit the homes of affected voters to help them seek restoration.

The Larger Dispute

The Congress-led opposition’s confrontation with the Election Commission began over the SIR. Last week, the INDIA bloc moved a resolution seeking the removal of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, and Venugopal said the Congress would continue its agitation until he is removed and steps are taken to ensure an impartial and transparent electoral system.

The party has also alleged that deletions could deprive poor people of their voting rights and access to government benefits, which it claims are increasingly being linked to voter identity cards. The government has rejected that charge.

The Congress Working Committee had earlier demanded the restoration of more than 13 crore names that it says were deleted, and a halt to the SIR.

The Election Commission and Government Position

The Election Commission and the government dispute the Congress’s description. They say the figures cited by the Congress cover exclusions from draft rolls, and that the deletions involve entries of deceased, shifted and duplicate voters. According to the commission’s data, about 71.5 per cent of the names deleted from draft lists were marked as absent or permanently shifted.

Voters who believe their names were wrongly removed can apply for inclusion through Form 6, and the commission has directed special drives to re-enrol left-out voters. The BJP has also argued that names flagged in these categories can still go through claims, objections and appeals before the final rolls are published.

Recent Changes to the Process

The restoration route has been changing. Reports say the commission has recently allowed voters wrongly marked as absent, shifted, dead or duplicate to submit enumeration forms, rather than apply afresh through Form 6, in some states. Activists have said that this was belated and that it is the commission’s responsibility to ensure the forms reach people. A platform of activists called People Against SIR has called for nationwide protests from November 26. There is also no consolidated figure for how many voters have got back on the rolls after being removed.

In Bihar, the Supreme Court had earlier directed the Election Commission to publish the list of deleted voters with reasons and to allow Aadhaar as an accepted document. The Congress welcomed that order as an important first step.

Two Views of the Initiative

Supporters of the move say it gives voters a simple way to check and challenge deletions and holds the process to account. The BJP and the government say the Congress is politicising a routine clean-up of the rolls. Restoration of a name ultimately has to be processed by election officials under the commission’s procedure, so the website’s practical effect will depend on how applications are submitted and followed up.

What to Watch Next

The key developments will be how many people use the website, how the Election Commission responds to the party’s campaign, and whether the commission’s own re-enrolment drives restore names before the final rolls are published.