checkthis / Fact check
Half the storyThe Reel correctly highlights that 728 of 729 voters were excluded from Delhi's Bela Estate draft roll. However, it misleads by portraying this administrative gap as deliberate disenfranchisement, omitting that officials blamed area demolitions and launched a special enrolment drive.
What we checked
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In Delhi's Bela Estate draft electoral rolls, almost the entire village is marked as 'shifted', leaving only one voter listed.Hindustan Times
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It implies: The election authorities or government deliberately deleted the names of Bela Estate residents to disenfranchise poor/marginalized voters or force them to leave.Hindustan Times
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It implies: The Special Summary Revision (SSR) process is systematically flawed and biased against the urban poor.The Wire
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Bela Estate residents' names were deleted from electoral rolls despite possessing documents establishing their identity and residence.India Today
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A Booth Level Officer (BLO) collected the residents' documents, kept them for 5 to 10 days, and then cancelled them.No reliable source found for this yet.
What the Reel doesn't tell you
- The poll panel stated that the massive exclusion of names occurred due to the demolition of homes in the jhuggi-jhopri cluster.
- The Bela Estate area was being reclaimed as part of a proposed riverfront project.
- Officials noted that eligible people whose names were absent from the draft roll could apply for inclusion through Form 6.
What each side says
Election Commission of India / Delhi Election OfficeThe Election Commission stated that the deletions occurred because the physical and residential status of the area changed substantially due to demolitions. Hindustan Times
How it plays you
It wants you to think: "The government is deliberately purging the urban poor from voter rolls to strip them of their rights."
Election authorities attributed the exclusions to the demolition of homes and area reclamation for a riverfront project, and officials launched a special drive to re-enroll eligible voters.
- Insinuation of malicious intent: "ये तो ये बना रहे हैं ना सरकार बना रहे हैं कि कैसे ना कैसे करके इनको गरीबों को, किसानों को, हमारा नाम तो हट गया हमारा…". The creator presents administrative deletions caused by home demolitions as a calculated government plot to drive away the poor, ascribing malicious motives without evidence.
- Loaded language: "For people already pushed to the margins of the capital, the question now goes beyond losing their homes.". It uses emotionally charged phrasing to frame a routine administrative update following slum demolitions as an existential attack on marginalized communities.
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