3 min readBhubaneswarApr 22, 2026 05:57 PM IST
As around 9.8 lakh names have been identified for potential deletion during the elector mapping exercise in Odisha ahead of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise, the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) has raised serious concerns over ‘potential large-scale disenfranchisement’ of eligible voters.
The Naveen Patnaik-led party on Wednesday staged a protest outside the office of the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), Odisha, and demanded that no eligible voter in the state be deprived of their fundamental democratic right.
“The unprecedented scale of deletions, coupled with nearly 2 lakh objections filed within a short period, clearly indicates widespread concern and possible inaccuracies in the process. Particularly vulnerable are migrant and temporary workers, whose names risk being removed due to their absence during verification, despite provisions that allow non-resident Indians to remain enrolled in their native constituencies,” said the party in a letter to the CEO.
The regional party also alleged that the number of deletions may increase further without adequate safeguards when the SIR process is rolled out in the state. The SIR process in Odisha is set to begin in mid-May.
As the CEO’s office recently ordered strict verification of the 2 lakh objections before preparing the final electoral roll, the BJD said the directions implicitly acknowledge irregularities in the process.
The party said a BJD delegation met Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar in New Delhi in August last year, during which it emphasised that a harsh view should not be taken against migrant and temporary workers working outside Odisha, as such actions may lead to socio-cultural disharmony in their native villages if they are deprived of voting rights.
“The entire deletion process be made foolproof and that no living person is left out. Officers on the ground must verify all details thoroughly and ensure sufficient checks so that no eligible person is excluded from the process,” read the BJD memorandum, as the party demanded that no deletion be undertaken without rigorous and verifiable field inquiry.
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BJD MP Sasmit Patra, in a letter to the CEC, said while the objective of maintaining accurate electoral rolls is fundamental to the integrity of elections, the scale, pattern and process underlying these proposed deletions raise serious and substantive concerns.
Patra demanded a state-wide re-verification of all cases flagged for deletion, full transparency through public disclosure of constituency-wise and category-wise data on proposed deletions along with reasons, and an independent audit or supervisory mechanism in districts where large-scale discrepancies have been reported.
