Bhubaneswar: The Biju Janata Dal (BJD) has alleged that minority voters are being deliberately excluded from electoral rolls in Odisha and has sought action against officials allegedly involved in irregularities during the ongoing voter list revision process.

A BJD delegation led by BJD vice-president Debi Prasad Mishra met the State Chief Electoral Officer and submitted documents and evidence in support of its allegations.

The party claimed that attempts were made to delete the names of around 3,165 voters across 19 polling booths in Dhamnagar NAC. The BJD alleged that the names were targeted for deletion through manipulation of the verification process.

The party demanded exemplary action against the Assistant Electoral Registration Officer allegedly responsible for the irregularities and urged the election authorities to ensure that no eligible voter is excluded from the electoral roll.

The allegations come amid the ongoing Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls in Odisha. The deadline for filing claims and objections ended on August 19. Authorities are scheduled to take a final decision on all claims and objections by September 17, while the final electoral roll is scheduled to be published on September 21.

As of August 19, notices had been issued to 58,36,430 voters. Election officials have clarified that names of electors who receive notices but fail to submit valid documents or provide correct information may be removed from the voter list.

During the revision process, 2,79,315 applications were received through Form-6 for registration of new voters. Another 53,625 applications were submitted through Form-7 for deletion of duplicate entries, shifting names between polling areas and removal of names of deceased voters.

Meanwhile, 1,97,952 applications were received through Form-8 seeking corrections in electoral rolls, including changes in names, addresses and ages, as well as requests to place members of the same family at a single polling station.

Chief Electoral Officer R S Gopalan has directed officials to ensure that no eligible citizen is excluded from the electoral roll and that no ineligible name remains on the list.

The development comes as Special Intensive Revision (SIR) Phase-III is set to be conducted in a phased manner across 16 states, including Odisha. Chief Election Commissioner of India Gyanesh Kumar has appealed to electors to actively participate in the exercise and submit their Enumeration Forms.

During Phase-III of the SIR, more than 3.94 lakh Booth Level Officers will conduct house-to-house verification covering around 36.73 crore electors, with assistance from 3.42 lakh Booth Level Agents appointed by political parties during the enumeration process.

With Phase-III, the SIR of electoral rolls is expected to cover the entire country, except Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh.