104 voters from 21 castes registered at single Narela address:On-ground check finds only 4 residents; 34 lakh new voters listed in MP during 2023 elections

Bhopal’s Narela Assembly constituency has come under scrutiny after Bhaskar’s investigation revealed serious discrepancies in the voter list for the 2023 Assembly elections. House number 1 in Ratan Colony, located in Narela, has been found particularly notable. According to the voter list of 2023, 104 voters from 21 different communities were registered at this single address. However, when Bhaskar’s team visited the house, only four residents were found living there. The Election Commission had added the names of these 104 voters just a month before the Assembly elections. This anomaly is not limited to one house. Bhaskar conducted field verification in 10 houses across two Assembly seats in Bhopal—Narela and Huzur—and discovered that voters added to the lists before the elections were often not present at the recorded addresses. Between January and October 2023, the Election Commission added a total of 34.11 lakh new voters across Madhya Pradesh. Election Commission officials have not provided any official response to these discrepancies. Meanwhile, political parties have reacted differently. The BJP claims that such scrutiny arises because the public rejected Congress in the elections, suggesting the allegations question constitutional institutions unnecessarily. On the other hand, Congress alleges that the BJP manipulated the voter lists to secure power in Madhya Pradesh. Read the full ground report.. Voter List Revisions in 2018 This is not the first time voter list revisions have caused controversy in Madhya Pradesh. During the 2018 Assembly elections, the voter list underwent four revisions: in January, July, September, and November. Following complaints from Congress regarding inaccurate listings, the Election Commission issued a revised list in July 2018, removing 1.337 million voters. The total number of voters in 2018 stood at 50.4 million. Constituencies with Large Additions of Voters In the 2023 revisions, the addition of voters was especially high in a few constituencies. Among 230 Assembly seats in Madhya Pradesh, four seats saw more than 30,000 new voters added. The Rau Assembly seat in Indore district recorded 48,019 new voters. Huzur in Bhopal district followed with 38,547 new voters. Indore-5 added 35,775 voters, and Sendhwa in Barwani district added 31,130. BJP candidates won on three of these four seats, while Congress secured Sendhwa. Similarly, seven other seats saw over 25,000 new voters added, with BJP winning five and Congress winning two. Sanwer in Indore district topped the list with 29,853 new voters. The other seats included Jobat (27,504), Narela (27,033), Barwani (26,574), Udaipura (26,177), Sidhi (26,080), and Rajnagar (25,329). There are also 16 Assembly seats with more than 20,000 voters added. Mhow saw 24,385 new additions, followed by Alirajpur (24,250), Petlawad (24,180), Pansemal (23,727), and Sanchi (23,643) among others. Except for two of these seats, BJP candidates hold all others. Field Verification in Narela and Huzur Bhaskar reporters conducted physical verification of randomly selected houses in Narela and Huzur, where large numbers of new voters had been added. In Narela, 27,033 new voters were added, and in Huzur, 38,547. Six houses in Narela and three in Huzur were visited. Residents were asked about the registered names, and many inconsistencies were uncovered. 1. House Number 11, Kalakheda Village, Huzur In Kalakheda village, house number 11 had seven voters added to the list in October 2023. When reporters visited, only three residents and a child were found. Rajkumar, the head of the household, confirmed that only three people live in the house. He also stated that the four additional individuals listed on the voter list—Biharilal Silawat, Uma Bai Silawat, Dharmendra Arya, and Bharti Arya—had never lived in the village. 2. House Number 19, Kalakheda Village Another anomaly was found in house number 19, where five voters were listed, four of whom were Muslim and one, Vimlesh Tomar, a Hindu. When reporters spoke to Vajeen Khan, one of the residents, he confirmed that Vimlesh Tomar did not live there and was unknown in the entire village. 3. House Number 9, Kalakheda Village House number 9 listed 11 voters from different castes, including Gaur, Vishwakarma, and Bhargav families. However, only Chhotu Kumar Gaur and Rohit Kumar Gaur were found residing there. The names of Vinod Bhargava, Rashmi Bhargava, Mohit Bhargava, Kamlesh Vishwakarma, Kasturi Vishwakarma, Nisha Bhargava, Milan Bhargava, Surendra Vishwakarma, and Vinod Vishwakarma, among others, were not recognised by the residents. 4. House Number 1, Ratan Colony, Narela House number 1 of Ratan Colony, registered with 104 voters, is another striking case. Bhaskar’s team found only four actual residents. The house belongs to the Sahu family, who also operate a flour mill on the ground floor. Naitik Sahu confirmed that besides his immediate family, no one else resides in the house, and he was unaware of the 104 names listed in the voter list. 5. House Number 2, Ratan Colony Next door, house number 2 had 54 people registered from 13 different castes. Only four residents live in the house, of which only two are registered voters. Discrepancies in Aman Colony Other houses in Aman Colony, Narela, showed similar discrepancies: Election Commission remains silent Despite repeated inquiries, the Madhya Pradesh Election Commission has not provided any response to the discrepancies. Officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) is being implemented to rectify such issues. They added that most of the officers currently in the commission were not part of the organisation in 2023. BJP’s response BJP spokesperson Ajay Yadav said the Congress party’s claims are false. He asserted that Congress spreads confusion and avoids filing formal complaints through the Election Commission’s affidavit process. Yadav also stated that the party welcomes SIR implementation to address any legitimate concerns. Congress alleges – BJP rigged 2023 elections Congress leaders, however, continue to allege voter list manipulation. Spokesperson Jitendra Mishra claimed that the BJP engages in vote theft both at the state and national level. Regarding the 2023 Madhya Pradesh Assembly elections, Congress members conducted door-to-door verification in Huzur and Narela before filing complaints with the Election Commission, but no corrections have been made to date. Implications and concerns Houses with disproportionate voter registrations, misattributed caste entries, and inclusion of non-existent residents indicate systemic gaps in verification processes. With tens of thousands of voters added in multiple constituencies, such inconsistencies can potentially influence election outcomes. Experts argue that timely implementation of SIR and rigorous physical verification is crucial to restoring public confidence in the electoral process. ​