Even as the Election Commission has ordered a probe into the deletion of voters in Pune, data on the EC’s website reveals that more than 4 lakh names were deleted from the voter list in 2013 while revising electoral rolls.
Activists and citizens have raised doubts over the procedure followed by the CEC. On the polling day on April 16, many voters complained that their names were missing from the list.
While the exercise was conducted to delete names of deceased persons, and avoid repetition of those who had shifted from their residence, the removal of such a large number has raised eyebrows.
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The number of eligible voters in the Pune constituency in 2009 was 18.06 lakhs. Even though 4 lakh names were deleted, activists point out that almost the same number of new voters may have registered, as the number of eligible voters in 2014 is 18.33 lakhs. The actual number of voters increased by 27,000.
According to the data, 4,23,952 names were deleted in 2013 after electoral revision. Among those who could not find their names on the voter list was prominent actor Amol Palekar.