Pune: District election authorities have not yet issued guidelines for voters temporarily displaced by redevelopment projects for the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls even as Mumbai poll officials have allowed such residents to retain their original home address.Mumbai City and Mumbai Suburban district collectors, acting as district election officers, have issued directives stating that residents shifted to transit or rented accommodation due to redevelopment or rehabilitation can continue to be enrolled at their original address, following a circular issued by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation chief. Such voters, however, must submit an undertaking declaring that the redeveloped property remains their ordinary residence and that they intend to return.Activist Ulka Mahajan said similar representations had been made to the chief electoral officer. “Finally, two collectors have issued the directive,” she said.In Pune, however, no such circular has been issued, leaving thousands of redevelopment-hit residents unsure whether to provide their original address or their temporary rented accommodation during the SIR exercise. “We shifted to a rented house as our building is being redeveloped. Our original home remains our permanent residence and should continue to be reflected in the electoral roll,” said a Pune resident.Meera Mohan from Bibvewadi said she had applied online but was uncertain how the booth-level officer (BLO) would verify her details. Another resident said, “Redevelopment may take several years, but that does not mean we have permanently shifted our residence. There should be clear instructions to BLOs so that people living in temporary accommodation are not treated as having changed their ordinary residence.”Election officials told TOI that directions to this effect were still awaited.Civil rights groups warned that treating temporary accommodation as a voter’s ordinary residence could result in genuine electors being left out of the rolls. The Mumbai directive cites provisions of the Representation of the People Act, 1950, and the Electoral Roll Manual, both of which state that temporary absence does not alter a person’s status as an ordinary resident if they retain the intention and ability to return.“Similar instructions should be issued across all districts, especially in cities where redevelopment activity is widespread,” a Pune-based activist said.With redevelopment projects increasing across Pune, particularly in the Kothrud, Aundh and Deccan areas, affected residents are now seeking a similar written directive from the district election office to ensure uniform implementation by BLOs and prevent voter exclusion.
