Over 23.6 lakh voter forms filled in SIR claims period in Maharashtra; no word on deadline extension from ECI

Pune: Over 23.6 lakh applications were submitted for name inclusion, deletion and correction in Maharashtra’s electoral roll from Aug 31 to Nov 12 — the penultimate day for filing claims and objections under SIR — and Mumbai Suburban topped the list, followed by Pune and Thane.Electoral officials said these included only online applications. The physical forms are yet to be digitised. The district-wise data released by the state election office also did not include the applications received on Friday, the last date to fill up forms under Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral roll. The final tally would, therefore, be higher, election officials said.Election Commission of India (ECI) did not announce any extension in the deadline for claims and objections till going to press despite demands from Opposition parties and activists. The state electoral office will have to process and dispose of all applications by Nov 25, as per the existing schedule. The final electoral roll is scheduled to be published on Nov 30.Of the 23,60,021 forms received across 36 districts till Nov 12, as many as 15.18 lakh were Form 6 applications for inclusion of names in the electoral roll. A total of 1.25 lakh Form 7 applications were submitted seeking deletion of names. Another 7,15,729 Form 8 applications were for corrections and other changes in voter details.Mumbai Suburban (1,91,308), Pune (1,65,446) and Thane (1,64,834) were the top three in the application count. Sindhudurg recorded the lowest number of applications at 16,098, followed by Gadchiroli (22,854), Nandurbar (23,567) and Washim (23,861).ECI had earlier extended the claims and objections deadline from Oct 12 to Oct 26, and subsequently to Nov 13. The disposal deadline was also revised from Nov 10 to Nov 25.Opposition parties and activists had sought a further extension in the SIR schedule, arguing that the claims and objections period was inadequate because of the Diwali week. They had also raised concerns about voters whose names were missing from the draft roll. They argued such voters would need time to submit supporting documents.