Residents of Yamuna JJ cluster seek re-inclusion at same address after 728 of 729 names dropped from draft roll

Weeks ago, long-time residents of a Jhuggi Jhopri (JJ) cluster on the Yamuna floodplains, falling under the Bela Estate polling part of the Chandni Chowk Assembly constituency, were shocked to learn that their names would not figure in the draft electoral roll for the Special Intensive Revision (SIR), as their houses had been demolished in 2023 by a State authority.The residents, however, continued to live at the same address in makeshift shanties and had cast their votes in the 2024 and 2025 elections.As poll officials visited the area on Friday (September 18, 2026) to verify addresses during the ongoing claims and objections phase, the residents said they felt a step closer to having their names back on Delhi’s electoral roll.On Wednesday (September 16), 462 residents of the JJ cluster near Vijay Ghat submitted Form 6, meant for new voters and those excluded during the enumeration process, to the officials. Of the 729 voters at the booth, 728 were put on the ASDD list for absent, shifted, dead and duplicate voters.‘Fight to prove our existence’A resident, Badrinath Jha, said officials visited the area in the afternoon and called out names from at least 10-15 Form 6 applications to verify that the applicants lived there.“Not everybody was present, because people had gone to their daily wage jobs. This is a fight to prove our existence and right to vote that everyone has. And we will win it,” he said.Kamal Lal has been trying to meet officials and submit grievances after 728 of the 729 electors were left out of the Bela Estate polling part’s draft roll. He said 550 enumeration forms had been filled and submitted to the area Booth Level Officer (BLO).“The Electoral Registration Officer (ERO), Manoj Kumar, had come to tell us that even though we had handed over the enumeration forms, our names would not be in the draft roll because there was demolition action here by the DDA in 2023,” he said.Mr. Lal, who had retrieved old electoral rolls dating back to 1962, said, “My great-grandfather’s names are on that roll. And then subsequent rolls. All our names were on the 2025 electoral roll of Delhi when we were residing here. Where can we go?”He had kept photocopies of all 550 enumeration forms he had filled before handing them over to the BLO.Forms with same addressMr. Lal said he was now hopeful that their names would be restored to the roll and that all the Form 6 applications would be accepted.“We have submitted all the documents we had as address proof — from ration cards to gas connection cards, older rolls, voter ID, Aadhaar and 2002 roll records for declaration forms,” he said.Since no house number could be provided for the shanties, the address mentioned on all the Form 6 applications is: JJ cluster, Vijay Ghat, Delhi-06.”He added that during the enumeration phase, residents had been asked to provide electricity or water bills as address proof for their names to be included in the draft roll.“This will not cause a problem now, the officials have told us. They will come to verify that we live here,” he said.Assistant Electoral Registration Officer (AERO) Sunil Kumar said, “We have not asked for specific documents. But we are verifying whatever they have submitted along with their Form 6 and doing field verification. We are also setting up camps.”One name appearsAll but one of the residents’ names appeared on the draft roll as “unmapped”.“The one person whose name appeared on the roll, his form was submitted along with other forms. He was not mapped with the previous SIR roll, so he is also expected to get a notice for the same,” Mr. Lal said.As per Election Commission rules, homeless persons or those rendered homeless, irrespective of whether they are residing on an encroachment or government land, who do not possess documentary proof of ordinary residence are eligible for enrolment in the electoral roll. In such cases, the BLO is required to conduct field verification at night to ascertain that they are “ordinary residents” at the address.