Chandigarh: Amid the ongoing special intensive revision (SIR) in Punjab, former diplomat Navdeep Suri on Sunday said he faced trouble establishing his citizenship after representing India in three countries.A resident of Amritsar, Suri took to X on Sunday, tagging Election Commission and putting out a series of posts about being told that his details did not match with SIR 2003, the base electoral roll being referred to in Punjab for the exercise, and questioning the SIR process.Sharing his experience, Suri wrote that he went to the booth- level officer (BLO), submitted voter ID and Aadhaar card and was “assured that everything is in order.”According to Suri, he subsequently got a message from a volunteer saying “some details don’t match with SIR in 2003!”Tagging ECISVEEP, the X handle associated with Election Commission of India’s Systematic Voters’ Education and Electoral Participation, Suri wrote, “Spoke with BLO, was told that I should come and collect the notice. And then come again with unspecified documents that show I am an Indian citizen. Replied that I was not in India in 2003, so they’ve asked for passport as proof.”He further wrote, “I happen to have documents other than voter ID and Aadhaar card. But can’t help asking: If I have trouble establishing my citizenship after representing India in three countries, what’s the fate of the common citizen? Ease of Living, I presume!”A former Indian Foreign Service (IFS) officer who served for 36 years before retiring in 2019, Suri held diplomatic assignments in Cairo, Damascus, Washington DC, Dar es Salaam and London, and served as India’s Consul General in Johannesburg.At Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), he headed the West Africa and Public Diplomacy divisions, where he was among the early proponents of using social media for public diplomacy. He subsequently served as Ambassador to Egypt, High Commissioner to Australia and Ambassador to the UAE, his final diplomatic posting. During his tenure in Abu Dhabi, he worked to deepen India-UAE strategic, defence, energy and investment ties, and was awarded the Order of Zayed II, the UAE’s second-highest civilian honour.Punjab Chief Electoral Officer Anindita Mitra said, “The name of former Indian Ambassador is part of the draft electoral roll. His vote was registered in Amritsar district and continues to be registered there. As the concerned elector could not be mapped with the previous SIR, notice has been issued by the electoral registration officer (ERO) and documents sought as per due procedure.”Suri told the TOI, “Like every normal individual, I also went to the BLO, stood in a queue, submitted my voter card and ID card, filled and signed the form. I was told everything is in order.”Subsequently, he was asked to submit other documents after being told that his details did not match with 2003 SIR.Suri said he was posted in London in 2003, serving at Indian High Commission. “The issue simply is that I have all the documents but what about the problems faced by those who don’t have?”“I have five types of documents – PAN card, Aadhaar card, voter ID card, driving license and passport. I have different ways to establish who I am. My only appeal is make things easier, simpler for citizens,” he said.On being unmapped, Suri said, “There will be a large number of people who might be facing this issue of being unmapped. When you are doing the exercise after 23 years, there will be many such people. We live in a society with mobility.”Notably, as many as 12.80 lakh electors (6.6%) who submitted Enumeration Forms and figure in the draft electoral roll published on Aug 13 could not be mapped with earlier electoral records. Notices are being issued to these unmapped electors from Aug 13 for further verification to establish their antecedents.More than 20 lakh electors in Punjab were deleted with voters identified as deceased, permanently shifted, untraceable or duplicate during the House-to-House Enumeration phase of Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of Electoral Roll-2026, which concluded on Aug 3 with 1.93 crore electors submitting their Enumeration Forms, accounting for 90.37% of the state’s registered electorate.Of the deleted 20,66,635 (9.63% of the total 2,14,61,043 registered voters), 9,44,131 (4.4%) voters were found to be permanently shifted from the state,5,74,568 (2.68%) were found to be deceased, 4,12,715 (1.92%) were untraceable or found absent during house – to- house visits by the BLOs and 1,19,145 (0.56%) had duplicate entries of enrolled voters.The Claims and Objections period is from Aug 13 to Sept 12. The final electoral rolls will be published in the state on Oct 12.
