Nagaland: Congress raises alarm over 7,900 voter deletions in Mokokchung

Morung Express News
Mokokchung | October 28

The Nagaland Pradesh Congress Committee (NPCC) has alleged that 7,900 names were deleted from the electoral rolls in Mokokchung district during the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR), calling for immediate house-to-house verification and restoration of the names of genuine voters.

The allegations were made during a press conference organised by the NPCC at Elate Hall, Mokokchung, under the direction of the All India Congress Committee (AICC) as part of its nationwide “Vote Bachao, Desh Bachao” campaign.

Addressing the media, AICC observer Pranav Shagotra said the campaign had been initiated under the leadership of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi to investigate alleged irregularities in electoral rolls across the country.

He claimed that more than 13 crore voter names had been deleted nationwide during the revision process.

According to Shagotra, Mokokchung had a total of 1,56,302 registered voters, of whom 7,900 names were deleted. He appealed to Congress workers and citizens to verify the electoral data at the booth, block, district and Assembly constituency levels.

Shagotra said the Congress had formed teams to examine the number of deleted names across states, districts and constituencies. He maintained that the data presented by the party had been obtained from official government records and urged voters to cross-check the information before the revision process was completed.

NPCC President and Lok Sabha MP S. Supongmeren Jamir said Booth-Level Agents (BLAs), Booth-Level Officers (BLOs) and party workers had an important responsibility in the verification process.

While lauding the efforts of the party’s BLAs in Mokokchung, he noted that over 7,000 names had still been found to have been deleted.

Jamir said the Election Commission had provided an opportunity for house-to-house revision and urged party workers to verify whether the deleted names belonged to genuine voters. He said the reasons for deletion must be carefully examined before any name was permanently removed from the electoral roll.

He also alleged that voter deletions and other electoral manipulations had taken place in different parts of the country.

Referring to the Congress and INDIA bloc’s wider campaign, Jamir said the party was demanding justice for voters whose names had allegedly been removed and accountability from the Election Commission.

Jamir said the INDIA bloc would organise protests in Delhi on October 30 and 31, followed by a rally at Ramlila Maidan on November 1.
He said the bloc was also demanding the restoration of eligible voters’ names, the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and changes in the use of electronic voting machines.

DCC Mokokchung President I. Temsu Jamir provided further details of the alleged deletions in the district. He said Mokokchung had recorded a deletion rate of approximately 5.545%, compared with an overall deletion rate of 11.6% in Nagaland.

He said the deleted names had been categorised under several reasons, including permanent migration, absence or untraceability, death and other causes. According to the figures presented, approximately 3,700 names were marked as permanently shifted, 1,337 as absent or untraceable, 2,455 as deceased and 18 under other reasons. He clarified that the figures were still being examined and required verification.

Temsu Jamir said the Congress was preparing constituency-wise data to determine which areas had recorded the highest number of deletions. He urged party workers to analyse the information received from election authorities and report cases in which genuine voters might have been removed.

He said the issue was not limited to any single political party, arguing that the deletion of a genuine voter’s name could affect citizens regardless of their political affiliation.

He cautioned that if such deletions continued, the democratic rights and political voice of the people could be seriously weakened.