Congress leader and Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Monday visited the slum settlement in Bela Estate, located along the Yamuna in Delhi, and raised questions over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral rolls. Rahul Gandhi claimed that of the 728 residents living in the settlement, only one name remained on the voter list after the SIR, while 727 names were removed.
Rahul Gandhi shared a video of the visit on social media platform X. In the video, he is seen interacting with local residents and speaking to an SDM over the phone. According to him, several residents have been living in the settlement for a long time and had voted in the 2024 Lok Sabha election and the 2025 Delhi Assembly election.
According to Rahul Gandhi, 728 people live in Bela Estate and only one name appears on the electoral roll after the SIR. He questioned how such a large number of names could have been excluded from the list if the residents are present in the area and had voted in previous elections.
He also said that the houses in the settlement were demolished in 2023, but the residents living there did not leave the area. In his video, Rahul Gandhi questioned the process through which names were removed from the electoral roll on this basis.
These claims should, at this stage, be treated as allegations made by Rahul Gandhi. The absence of a voter's name from the draft roll does not by itself mean that the person's voting rights have been permanently removed. The Election Commission has clarified that receiving a notice does not automatically mean that a name has been deleted and that eligible voters are being given an opportunity to establish their status.
While sitting among residents in the settlement, Rahul Gandhi called the concerned SDM. During the conversation, he questioned officials about the relationship between housing status and a voter's electoral rights.
Rahul Gandhi also referred to ‘House Number 0’. He said that, according to Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, such an arrangement exists for homeless people and therefore a person's name should not be excluded from the electoral roll solely on the basis of the status of their house or regular accommodation.
During the conversation, Rahul Gandhi also asked the official to state his name and designation. A portion of the conversation was recorded in the video shared by him.
The draft electoral roll under the SIR in Delhi was published on August 31, 2026. According to available reports, around 47.5 lakh names were not included in the draft roll compared with the previous list. Around 97 lakh voters are included in the draft list. In addition, notices have been issued to approximately 33.1 lakh voters regarding their eligibility or records.
These figures cannot be treated as figures from the final electoral roll because the SIR process is still underway. Voters whose names are not in the draft list or who have received notices have been given an opportunity to file claims and objections.
The Election Commission has also said that the issuance of a notice is not, by itself, evidence that a voter's name has been finally deleted. Eligible voters are being given an opportunity to submit documents and other required information.
Under the SIR process in Delhi, the deadline for filing claims and objections has now been extended to October 30, 2026. The Election Commission has extended the deadline by one month.
The deadline for disposing of notices, claims and objections has been extended to November 30. The final electoral roll for Delhi will subsequently be published on December 4, 2026.
The change gives additional time to voters whose names are not included in the draft list or whose records have been flagged by election officials for clarification.
Election officials in Delhi have also initiated another process during the SIR. Booth-level officers will visit the homes of voters who have received notices regarding discrepancies in their records and collect documents.
The process is intended to verify information related to a voter's eligibility and records. According to the Chief Electoral Officer of Delhi, the purpose of the SIR is to retain eligible voters on the electoral roll and identify ineligible voters or incorrect entries.
According to the Election Commission, if an eligible person's name is not included in the SIR draft electoral roll, the person can apply to have the name added through the prescribed process.
According to the website of the Chief Electoral Officer of Delhi, eligible voters whose names are not found in the draft list can file a claim for inclusion through Form-6. Voters can also search for their names using their EPIC number, name or mobile number.
Eligible young people and first-time voters can also apply to have their names registered on the electoral roll.
The SIR is not limited to Delhi. The Election Commission has initiated the special intensive revision of electoral rolls in various states and Union territories across the country.
According to the Commission, the objective of the SIR is to verify and update electoral rolls. The final electoral roll published before the 2024 general election had more than 96.88 crore registered voters in the country.
Opposition parties have raised questions over the large-scale removal of names and the transparency of the process. The Election Commission, on the other hand, has said that eligible voters are being given an opportunity to submit claims and provide the required documents. Against this backdrop, the final rolls and the outcome of the claims and objections process will determine the status of the affected entries.
The Bela Estate case comes as the SIR process in Delhi remains underway. Rahul Gandhi has questioned the Election Commission and local administration over the claim that 727 names were removed. The Election Commission, meanwhile, has said that the draft roll is not the final electoral roll and has extended the period for filing claims and objections.
Claims and objections can now be filed until October 30, while their disposal will continue until November 30. The final electoral roll will then be published on December 4, 2026. The final list will therefore clarify the status of voters in Bela Estate and elsewhere in Delhi whose names are not included in the current draft roll.
