Mumbai, September 29 (Daily Kiran) : The Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC) is advocating for a two-month extension on the deadline for filing claims and objections regarding the draft electoral roll. MPCC President Harshvardhan Sapkal made the request to the state’s Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), S. Chokkalingam, on Tuesday.
Currently, the deadline is set for October 12 under the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) drive. Congress leaders argue that this timeline is insufficient, warning that millions of citizens may lose their voting rights due to significant administrative and technical difficulties.
In an official letter to the CEO, Sapkal noted that a delegation from the MPCC had already met with election officials on September 22 to discuss the challenges faced on the ground. However, the Election Commission (EC) only granted an additional 12 days, which Sapkal deemed inadequate, as many changes remain to be addressed.
Citing data from the state’s electoral database, Sapkal pointed out that among 1.54 crore voters listed as absent, transferred, or deceased/duplicate, only 390,000 eligible young citizens have submitted Form-6 for voter registration.
He also highlighted issues with the new Form-6 format, stating that despite reporting errors to the Election Commission, corrected forms have not been printed. This has prevented citizens from obtaining error-free copies of their applications.
The MPCC chief discussed several major obstacles affecting the registration campaign in Maharashtra. He mentioned that frequent server outages and issues linking Aadhaar and mobile numbers have severely impacted online submissions. Additionally, discrepancies between the Marathi and English transliterations of voter names have created further complications.
Sapkal noted that booth-level officers (BLOs), many of whom are school teachers, are currently occupied with festival-related duties and mid-term exams. This has added to their workload, making it difficult for them to process new applications effectively.
He also pointed out serious flaws in the EC’s duplication software, revealing that a recent report from the Nagpur district collector showed over 25,000 duplicate voter entries in one parliamentary constituency.
To ensure a transparent, inclusive, and error-free voter list, Sapkal urged the Election Commission to extend the deadline for claims and objections from October 12 by an additional two months. He called for daily updates on the number of applications received under Forms 6, 7, and 8 for each constituency, in line with the transparent reporting model adopted in Delhi, and a comprehensive recheck to eliminate fraudulent and duplicate entries from the draft voter list.
Sapkal emphasized the necessity of extending the deadline to guarantee proper voter registration and ensure that no eligible citizen is overlooked. He urged the CEO to take swift action in the interest of fair elections.
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