Odisha draft electoral roll cuts over 20 lakh voters, BJD raises concerns

The Election Commission of India released the first draft electoral roll for Odisha on July 5‑6 after completing the initial phase of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR). The draft shows the electorate falling from 33,399,591 to 31,387,034, a deletion of about 20.14 lakh names. deletions were attributed to 8.32 lakh deceased voters, 10.07 lakh who had shifted or could not be traced, 1.58 lakh duplicate entries and roughly 14 thousand who failed to submit enumeration forms.

Biju Janata Dal (BJD) leaders, including Vice‑President Debi Prasad Mishra, alleged larger discrepancies, claiming up to 27 lakh voters were omitted and pointing to over 50,000 missing names in 49 assembly constituencies. The party urged a fresh verification and restoration of the excluded voters.

The commission opened a claims and objections window from July 5 to August 4, allowing affected voters to file Form 6 online or through Booth Level Officers. A final, cleaned roll is scheduled for publication on September 6.