India’s Election Commission has been bracketing citizens into ‘general’ and ‘VIP’ voters
You may have been concerned that the Election Commission of India (ECI) is overreaching and putting names of Chief Minister, Deputy Prime Minister and many prominent personalities in its doubtful voter list during Delhi’s SIR.
Please don’t be concerned, because what’s happening is the opposite. Our investigation reveals that the ECI is going above and beyond to ensure that no VIP voter is deleted.
This term ‘VIP voter’ isn’t even coming from us. VIP voters have been created through an elaborate formal and informal system by the ECI. Were you aware that as election officials collected enumeration forms during this SIR process, citizens were being bracketed into ‘general’ and ‘VIP’ voters?
To learn more about what we found, read our full story here: No VIP Left Behind: ECI’s Drive to Guarantee a Spot For Them on the Final Voter Roll
The Reporters’ Collective is tracking SIR’s fallout beyond the voter list, into welfare schemes, ration cards and citizenship. This reporting runs only on reader generosity. If you believe this work matters, support and donate to us!
I’m writing this at 2.30 am as we close this story. If you like the story, please do donate.
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