VIP Treatment Everywhere: ECI Software, Directives Create Fast Lane for High-Profile Voters in Delhi SIR
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The Election Commission of India (ECI) deployed a dedicated "Mark VIP" feature on its mobile software and issued informal WhatsApp instructions to give prominent citizens preferential treatment during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voter lists in Delhi, revealed An investigation by media platform The Reporters' Collective.
The findings show that while general citizens face cumbersome physical verification processes and long queues at hearing centres to defend their voting rights, election officials have been instructed to ensure high-profile individuals avoid deletion or procedural inconvenience.
Software Feature Enables 'VIP' Flagging for Select Voters
Code decompilation of the ECI’s BLOApp—used by booth-level officers (BLOs) for house-to-house verification—revealed a dedicated software module updated in recent months titled "Mark VIP Electors".
The technical feature allows officers to flag specific electors on their polling booth lists as VIPs with a single click. Once recommended, the software pushes the voter's record up the administrative chain for fast-track processing, effectively shielding designated profiles from standard verification checks and potential voter list purges.
Informal WhatsApp Instructions Bypass Statutory Manuals
Ground visits across six verification centres in four Delhi districts revealed that Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) issued informal instructions via WhatsApp groups to BLOs.
The directives instructed officers to mark ministers, their relatives, judges, senior bureaucrats, media figures, advocates, celebrities, and social workers under the VIP tag:
- Protection From Deletion: Election staff were ordered to ensure VIP names were not deleted from rolls to prevent "inconvenience or embarrassment" to the election body.
- At-Home Verification: Notices issued to VIP electors were required to be resolved directly at their residences rather than requiring their appearance at official hearing venues.
- Discretionary Classification: Neither the Representation of the People Act nor official ECI manuals provide a statutory framework for creating a VIP voter category, leaving the designation entirely to administrative discretion.
Two-Tier System Emerges Amid Citizen Hearings
The parallel process has created a stark divide in how the voter roll revision is conducted in the national capital. While ordinary voters line up in batches at district hearing centres to produce documentation and verify their eligibility, VIPs receive personalized home visits and expedited clearance.
Legal experts and election observers note that bypassing standard verification for select groups without clear legal backing compromises the uniformity of electoral roll administration. The ECI has yet to issue an official response regarding the app code modifications or the informal WhatsApp directives used during the Delhi drive.
