In the national capital Delhi, the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voters lists and the legion of problems it has produced for citizens is omnipresent, visible in every corner. The process has impacted people across the otherwise strict lines of caste, class and religion. Yet it is largely the privileged who are equipped to navigate what has turned into a ceaseless exercise of chaos, confusion and production of documents.

The Wire looks at ten voters in Delhi and how they are tackling the SIR.

1. Anil Kumar: Mapping notice

Anil Kumar is 30 years old and unemployed. He lives in a Rain Basera (homeless shelter) in Sarai Kale Khan, where he was born and raised. His vote falls in the Jangpura constituency. Kumar has three children, and is the proud owner of a phone, an Aadhar card and a PAN card.

Both Kumar and his mother have received notices, but Kumar is illiterate and does not know exactly which documents he is expected to produce. His mother does not have a birth certificate, but has voted before.

Anil Kumar, who lives in a homeless shelter in Sarai Kale Khan was sent a mapping notice. Credit: Antara Baruah

Kumar, too, has voted in multiple previous elections. After receiving a phone call from his BLO, he went to his polling station, an MCD Primary School in Vinoba Puri, Lajpat Nagar. While hearings were held at his Rain Basera, Kumar said he wasn’t aware of when they happened, and that he did not receive a phone call about it.

“Bohot log they, toh unhoney mujhey wahan se bhaga diya (there were too many people there, so they shooed me away),” he said. “Dono baar vote daala school mein. Phir bhi naam kat diya. Kya hai? (I voted both times. But still my name is not there. What is this?)

Twenty-eight-year-old Aman filled the enumeration forms for his entire family as well as a few neighbours. He has lived in the Valmiki Mohalla in Tughlakabad Village for the last 12 years, prior to which his family was in Dakshinpuri. They have been in Delhi for 40 years and own their current home.

However, Tughlakabad has recorded the highest deletion rate in the city, where nearly one in two voters has not made it on to the draft list.

Aman lives in Tughlakabad, the area with the most deleted voters during SIR. His name was deleted, too. Photo: Antara Baruah

Aman checks the ECI app frequently, which is how he found out that his name had been removed. His sister and his mother are on the draft rolls. Aman has his documents: a school certificate, property papers, an Aadhaar card, a PAN card.

Since the deletion, and at the time of reporting, he said that he had not received any information from his BLO on what his next steps are supposed to be.

“Kuch na kuch toh issue hoga is se. Future mein problem aayegi,” he said.

3. Bimla Devi: Deleted (in 2025)

When Bimla went to her polling station to vote in the 2025 Delhi election, she found that her name was not on the rolls, which had never happened to her before. She was met with shrugs from officials and neighbours, and never figured why her name was unceremoniously removed.

Bimla is one of 11 lakh voters whose names disappeared off the voter lists in Delhi prior to the SIR. Photo: Antara Baruah.

She has lived in her home in Valmiki Mohalla for the past 20 years and immediately whips out her voting ID when the topic comes up. The 66-year-old........

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