PIONEER EDGE NEWS SERVICE/Dehradun
Members of social, women’s, student and civil society organisations were detained in Dehradun on Monday while taking out the march against the 2026 Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls and demanding the restoration of names deleted from voter lists. The march, organised by Uttarakhand Insaniyat Manch and Uttarakhand Mahila Manch, began at Gandhi Park. Participants planned to reach the office of the
Uttarakhand chief electoral officer, to submit a memorandum but were stopped by police near the Secretariat.
The representatives of Agragami Chhatra Naujawan Sabha, Stri Mukti League, BGVS, Janwadi Mahila Sangathan, Jan Samvad, AIDSO, SFI, Mahila Ekta Kendra and IPTA, along with citizens and representatives of political parties, took part in the protest.
Police had erected barricades near the Secretariat. Organisers said that a scuffle broke out when protesters were stopped and that police pushed them towards buses before detaining them. The memorandum could not be submitted. Those detained included Kamla Pant, Nirmala Bisht and Dr Ravi Chopra.
The protester, Ayas Khan claimed that around 17.05 lakh names had been deleted and 4.01 lakh added during the pre-SIR and SIR processes in Uttarakhand, compared with the electoral roll used for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. He questioned whether voters had been adequately contacted and given an opportunity to establish their eligibility before their names were removed.
He argued that absence, migration or difficulties in verification should not, by themselves, lead to deletion without due process. He demanded cancellation of the 2026 SIR and sought the use of the 2024 electoral roll as the basis for protecting voting rights.
The organisation’s other demands included an independent inquiry into deletions during the pre-SIR process, prior notice and an opportunity to be heard before names are removed, booth-level grievance redressal camps across districts and Assembly constituencies and an independent audit of electoral rolls.
They also called for time-bound disposal of complaints and a transparent mechanism to ensure that eligible voters are not deprived of their right to vote.
