A tiny colony with tarpaulin homes on the banks of the Yamuna in the Capital has captured national attention. Of the 728 voters registered in Bela Estate for the last election, only one has made it to Delhi’s draft electoral rolls.
shifted, duplicate or deceased, residents dispute the deletions While the Election Commission says the remaining electors have been marked absent.
“What if this is a ploy to make sure they evict us again? They will say we moved here after 2026 as new voters and disenfranchise us despite voting in several elections, even in 2025.
“They have already taken away our identity, our houses,” she said. Another resident, Maluda, said the community was already living without basic security or amenities. “We have no place to go, not even a place to defecate,” said Maluda. “Where will we go if our identities are erased?”
“We’ve voted here from the beginning. The Election Commission surveyed the area, the BLO was here. We are included in the 2002 list, in the 2025 list. 550 forms were submitted. It also said: “The Election Commission of India has extended the period of filing claims and objections for NCT of Delhi till 30.10.2026. In case any eligible elector finds his name missing in the draft roll, they can fill Form 6…”
Another resident, Kamal, who is a teacher, said the community had consistently voted from the settlement and had been included in previous electoral rolls. Even then our votes are not recorded,” he said. The Election Commission says the names missing from the draft roll have been classified through the verification process as absent, shifted, duplicate or deceased. The Delhi CEO’s office has also said that the Bela Estate voters were placed in the ASDD – absent, shifted, dead or duplicate – category after verification. Responding to the controversy, the Delhi CEO’s office said the matter had already been addressed by the concerned Electoral Registration Officer.
But for residents of Bela Estate, the issue is not simply about another form. They say their names have appeared on electoral rolls for years and that they have repeatedly exercised their right to vote. The controversy has acquired a national political dimension following Rahul Gandhi’s visit to the settlement. “This is our land. “We have all the documents. Governments have come and gone, have promised us houses but left us here to rot. Deleting us from the voter list, however, is a first. It seems they want to erase us.”
They question why they should now have to establish themselves as “new” voters. Gandhi has attacked the Special Intensive Revision, or SIR, exercise as “vote chori” – vote theft – arguing that the removal of legitimate voters from electoral rolls undermines the electoral process. They are trying to displace us,” said another resident, while displaying his property papers.
