Opposition questions EC’s intentions behind SIR, say names of eligible voters shouldn’t be deleted

Some Opposition parties on Monday questioned the intentions of the Election Commission behind holding the second phase of special intensive revision of electoral rolls in 12 states and Union Territories, and asserted that names of eligible voters should not be deleted.

Questioning the exercise, the Congress said the poll body’s intentions and credibility were under suspicion as neither the voters nor the opposition were satisfied with it.

The BJP, however, slammed the Congress and called the opposition a “herd of dissatisfied souls”, alleging that they are targeting the poll panel over voter-list revision to find an excuse for their “impending losses” in upcoming polls.

The Election Commission will conduct phase two of the special intensive revision of electoral rolls in 12 states and Union Territories between November and February, including in poll-bound West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Puducherry, Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar announced at a press conference here.

With the announcement sparking sharp reactions, the Congress alleged that the second phase of SIR is a “conspiracy against democracy” and a plot to “snatch away” the rights of the people.

The Congress’ media and publicity head, Pawan Khera, said they have not yet received answers to the questions related to the SIR conducted in Bihar, even as the intentions of the poll panel have now come to light before the entire country.

“Conducting the SIR by an Election Commission, whose credibility and intention are under suspicion, does not seem right. Clearly, neither the people, nor the opposition, nor the voters are satisfied,” Khera alleged in a video message.

In a post on X, he also asked whether Bihar has been turned into a “laboratory for murdering democracy through SIR”.

“Is this round of SIR also just for vote-cutting? In Bihar, the Election Commission has not taken any steps towards adding new voters, while 6.5 million votes have been cut,” Khera said in his post in Hindi.

Hitting back, BJP national spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla said the opposition parties are like “’asantusht atmaon ka jhund’ (herd of dissatisfied souls)” and a “masterclass in hypocrisy”.

“It is evident from the fact that on the one hand they will say that the SIR is for stealing of votes, the SIR is against the Constitution, and it should not be done. On the other hand, the SIR is being demanded by the opposition parties in Maharashtra before the local body polls,” Poonawalla told PTI, while accusing the opposition of being confused.

Samajwadi Party MP Dimple Yadav said the government’s intentions are not clear. “The government is trying to hurt the democratic structure of the country,” she told reporters.

CPI general secretary D Raja told PTI that the EC, being a constitutional body, has to ensure the right to vote to all eligible citizens.

“Its mandate is to ensure free and fair polls and maintain a level playing field. What happened in Bihar during the SIR should be a lesson to the EC itself and not to political parties, on the manner in which EC forced its documents, and the judiciary had to intervene,” he said.

The ruling TMC in Bengal apprehended that attempts may be made to “delete the names of eligible voters at the behest of the BJP, and this will not be allowed “.

Reacting sharply, Trinamool Congress spokesperson Kunal Ghosh said the party will “democratically protest” any attempt to remove genuine voters.

The West Bengal unit of the BJP, however, maintained that “no illegal voter will be spared”. It accused the ruling TMC of “deliberately distorting” the purpose of the SIR exercise to safeguard what it described as the ruling party’s “fake vote bank”. It claimed that infiltrators were being added to the rolls while Indian voters’ names were being struck off.

“SIR is not just a simple name inclusion exercise. It is a battle to protect the backbone of democracy,” BJP West Bengal chief Samik Bhattacharya said in Kolkata.

Terming the SIR in West Bengal a necessary step to “weed out illegal voters”, senior BJP leader and Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari said, “The voters have nothing to fear. But the infiltrators, who are the vote bank of the TMC, will be weeded out.”

BJP leader and Karnataka Leader of Opposition R Ashoka said, “SIR is necessary to remove Bangladeshi and Pakistani names from India’s electoral rolls.”

In West Bengal, the CPI(M) too demanded that the voters’ list be published in a transparent manner. CPI(M) state secretary Mohammed Salim said the party will depute agents in every polling booth to ensure that names of genuine voters are not omitted during SIR.

In Kerala, however, the ruling CPI(M) and the opposition Congress strongly opposed the SIR exercise, warning that the move, coming just ahead of local body elections, could disrupt the democratic process.

The CPI(M) accused the Union government of “rushing” the SIR in Kerala with “ulterior motives” and warned that the exercise, based on voter rolls from 2002–2004, could disenfranchise more than 50 lakh voters.

The Election Commission will hold SIR of electoral rolls in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Lakshadweep, Chhattisgarh, Goa, Gujarat, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Puducherry, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal.

The exercise will begin on November 4 with the enumeration process and continue till December 4. The EC will release the draft electoral rolls on December 9, and the final electoral rolls will be published on February 7.