Indore-4

An RTI query has found something troubling in Indore, Madhya Pradesh. Over 1.36 lakh voter deletions carried out between January 5 and October 15, 2022, have no digital records to back them up. Multiple constituency election offices gave the same blunt answer when asked for proof: "Record not maintained."

Former Indore councillor Dilip Kaushal filed the RTI application on May 23, 2025. He asked for details about deletions made through the Garud app and ERO Net system. His request also covered contractor agreements, backups, and related correspondence from Electoral Registration Officers.

Officers in Depalpur, Indore-1 through Indore-5, Rau, and Sanwer all gave essentially the same reply. No digital records had been kept. The Indore-1 officer said there were no Election Commission instructions at the time to preserve such records.

The numbers are big. Indore-4 alone saw 28,391 deletions while Indore-5 recorded 28,091. Along with Rau's 21,346, these three constituencies account for nearly 57 percent of the total deletions cited in Kaushal's application.

Madhya Pradesh High Court is now involved. Justice Sandeep N Bhatt, in a September 17 order, told the State Information Commission to decide Kaushal's pending second appeal on its merits and preferably within 45 days. That appeal has been pending since January 30, 2026.

Kaushal also wrote to Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi on July 31, 2025. He raised concerns about voter-deletion records across all 230 Assembly constituencies in the state.

When names are removed from voter lists through a digital system, who keeps track of why and how? That is the simple but critical question this case puts on the table. The bigger debate about electoral transparency comes down to this.