New Delhi:
Congress’ Rahul Gandhi has targeted the Election Commission over the deletion of more than 700 people from Delhi’s Bela Estate from electoral rolls, saying this was another example of vote theft. In a post on social media platform X, he said while Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar “will go”, the “system that made him do this will also have to answer”. In its response, the Election Commission said the matter has already been addressed by concerned ERO, and the dates for filing claims & Objections have been extended. It also reiterated its comitmenrt to transparent and inclusive polling.
The matter has already been addressed by concerned ERO earlier also.
Election Commission of India (ECI) has extended the period of filing claims & Objections for NCT of Delhi till 30.10.2026. In case any eligible electors finds his name missing in the draft roll can fill Form-6… pic.twitter.com/GrCoWyNczT
— CEO, Delhi Office (@CeodelhiOffice) September 28, 2026
Gandhi has been vocal with his demand for the dismissal of the Chief Election Commissioner since The Indian Express reported that the other two poll commissioners had disagreed with him on multiple occasions over voter list revision and inclusion of new voters.
Now, the reports on exclusion of Bella Estate voters has provided fresh ammunition to the Leader of the Opposition.
In his post, Gandhi said having a house or not has no connection to the right to vote.
“CEC Gyanesh Kumar himself has said that “House Number 0″ is for the homeless. Yet, 727 people’s names have been struck off. This isn’t SIR – this is a method of vote theft. From those who already have the least, their only power is being snatched away,” his post read.
यमुना किनारे बेला एस्टेट में 728 लोग रहते हैं। SIR के बाद वोटर लिस्ट में सिर्फ़ एक नाम बचा – बाकी 727 नाम काट दिए गए।
ये लोग दशकों से यहाँ रह रहे हैं। 2024 के लोकसभा चुनाव और 2025 के दिल्ली चुनावों में वोट डाल चुके हैं। 2023 में इनके घर तोड़ दिए गए थे – पर ये कहीं नहीं गए, यहीं… pic.twitter.com/27cJZjqJg6
— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) September 28, 2026
Gandhi’s reference was to the Commission’s clarification that the names of the voters were struck off because the houses they lived in earlier were demolished in 2022-23 and the “physical and residential status of the area has undergone extensive changes”.
“As per the instructions for SIR, the BLO was required to undertake house-to-house visits for distribution of the Enumeration Forms to electors at their registered addresses. Due to demolition of the dwelling units, these electors were no longer residing at the registered address. Thus their status as “Ordinary resident” as per section 20(7) of the RP Act 1970 read with instruction manual of the ER is changed. As such, as per the extant instructions, BLO has correctly placed these electors in the ASDD list,” read a statement from the Commission issued earlier.
In its note, the Commission also re-iterated the process of applying for inclusion in the list.
