20 lakh missing from voters list in Mumbai suburbs: Sanjay Nirupam

The Mumbai Regional Congress Committee on Tuesday alleged that names of about 20 lakh voters in 26 assembly constituencies from suburbs were missing from the voters' list. MRCC President Sanjay Nirupam, who led a delegation, appealed to the Mumbai suburban district collector Sachin Kurve and asked the latter to ensure that no genuine voter is deprived of his or her right to vote.

He also demanded that the draft electoral roll, usually prepared after such deletions are carried out, be released without any further delay. "Names of almost 20 lakh voters were eliminated from the voters' list in suburbs. It seems the ruling BJP is tampering electoral rolls in Mumbai. The government should release the draft roll at the earliest," he told DNA. He claimed that the booth level officers appointed by the government were not going from door to door as mandated.

Nirupam demanded that the Aadhaar card should be made mandatory for voters while ensuring that every person is provided with the same.

He further added that people who got homes under the Slum Rehabilitation Authority scheme in localities other than their current area of residence were the worst hit due to these deletions.

BJP Legislator Atul Bhatkhalkar ridiculed Nirupam's claim saying that the election commission is an autonomous body and functions based on the stipulated norms with regards to registration of voters.