‘Hope my name will now be in’: At Delhi SIR camps, BLOs wait as voters trickle in

On Sunday, classrooms remained locked, but the Municipal Corporation of Delhi's (MCD) school near Batla House, Batla House, was open. Inside, three teachers worked behind tables laden with Form 6 bundles, while four others waited for voters whose names were not in the draft electoral rolls issued under the Special Intensive Revision (SIR).

The school was one of several polling stations across the city converted into special camps where voters could raise grievances and apply to have their names added or corrected on the electoral rolls. The draft electoral rolls in August listed around 97.5 lakh voters, while 48.5 lakh were categorized under ASDD (Absent, Shifted, Dead or Duplicate).

On September 29, the Election Commission instructed the 20 states and Union Territories where SIR had been completed to run a "special drive" to enrol "left out" voters. Mukesh Chand Meena, a Booth Level Officer (BLO) for Sarai Kale Khan, said he spent from 10 am to 5 pm at the camp, calling people to urge them to come and have their notices resolved.

Two women, Rekha Devi and Monika, turned up, both having received notices for not being included in the previous SIR. Another MCD school in Kailash Colony saw BLO Amit Kumar waiting for visitors for over five hours, with only around four people showing up. Among them were Gautam Kumar Sadhu, who sought to correct details, and Ajay Sakuja, who had come with his son to register as a new voter.

Nearby, BLO Vinay Kumar in another MCD school near the Yamuna waited until 5 pm to catch a train home to Etawah in Uttar Pradesh. Only seven people with notices turned up, while many migrant laborers had gone home for the festive season. One late arrival was Mohammed Muslim, in his late sixties, who lived in Jamia Nagar for over two decades but found his name struck off the draft list. After filling out Form 6, he expressed hope that his name would now be included.