NEW DELHI: The Telugu Desam Party (TDP), the biggest ally of the ruling BJP-led NDA government at the Centre, on Tuesday urged the Election Commission of India to communicate explicitly that the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) is not related to citizenship verification.
A TDP delegation which met the full three-member EC submitted not to hold the SIR of electoral rolls in Andhra Pradesh within six months of a major poll.
The TDP delegation told the Commission that the purpose of SIR must be clearly defined and be limited to electoral roll correction and inclusion. Voters already enrolled in the latest roll should not be required to re-establish their eligibility unless specific and verifiable reasons are recorded, it asserted.
The suggestions offered by the TDP mark a clear distinction from the procedure guiding the SIR in Bihar and its timing, which has ignited a political storm as the Opposition has questioned its implementation close to the Assembly polls, expected in October-November, and the burden of proof on prospective voters in many cases.
Several opposition leaders have moved the Supreme Court against the special revision drive in poll-bound Bihar. The apex court has allowed the EC to continue with the revision but has made several suggestions to the poll body, while acknowledging concerns about its timing and implementation.
Though the TDP, in its communication to the EC, made no reference to Bihar, its view conveys clearly that the party of Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu wants the EC to revisit the modalities of the Bihar exercise when the electoral roll revision is rolled out in the southern state as well as on the national scale.
“The SIR’s purpose must be clearly defined and limited to electoral-roll correction and inclusion. It should be explicitly communicated that the exercise is not related to citizenship verification, and any field instructions must reflect this distinction,” said the party’s submission.
Supporting the “presumption of inclusion”, it said the voters who are already enrolled in the most-recent certified electoral rolls should not be required to re-establish their eligibility unless specific and verifiable reasons are recorded.
Citing a Supreme Court judgment, the TDP told the EC that prior inclusion of a person in electoral rolls creates a presumption of validity and any deletion must be preceded by a valid inquiry.
“The burden of proof lies with the ERO (Electoral Registration Officers) or objector, not the voter, especially when the name exists in the official roll,” the delegation, which included TDP’s parliamentary party leader Lavu Sri Krishna Devarayalu and its state president Palla Srinivasa Rao, said in its submission. The delegation met Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar and ECs Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi.
Noting that the Assembly polls are not due till 2029 in Andhra Pradesh, the TDP said the SIR provides a valuable opportunity to ensure that the electoral rolls are updated in a fair, inclusive and transparent manner.
It told the EC to start the exercise in the state “as early as possible”, stressing the need for adequate time and advance notification. Pointing out that the state has a high level of seasonal migration, particularly from rural and coastal regions, it said the SIR should deploy mobile BLO (booth-level officer) units and accept temporary address declarations to prevent the exclusion of migrant workers and displaced families. Pitching for procedural clarity on the deletion of anyone from the electoral rolls and the redressal mechanism, it urged the EC to give a reasoned order in such cases with due notice and allow stage-wise verification. With Agency Inputs