EC top brass brainstorms with state poll machinery on pan-India SIR preparedness

New Delhi: A crucial meeting of the Election Commission with its state officials is underway to discuss preparations for a pan-India roll out of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. While senior EC officials are expected to make a presentation on the SIR policy of the Commission, the chief electoral officer of Bihar would share the state's experience in implementing SIR. This is the third meeting of CEOs after Gyanesh Kumar took over as the chief election commissioner in February. However, Wednesday's day-long meeting assumes significance as the preparedness of a pan-India SIR are being discussed, officials said.

The Commission has said that after Bihar, SIR will be carried out in the entire country. There are indications that the exercise would commence later this year ahead of assembly elections in Assam, Kerala, Puducherry, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal in 2026. The primary aim of the intensive revision is to weed out foreign illegal migrants by checking their place of birth. The move assumes significance in the wake of a crackdown in various states on illegal foreign migrants, including from Bangladesh and Myanmar. Eventually, the poll authority will begin SIR in the entire country "for the discharge of its constitutional mandate to protect the integrity of the electoral rolls". As part of the intense review, poll officials will carry out house-to-house verification to ensure an error-free voters' list.

Amid allegations by opposition parties that the EC has fudged voter data to help the BJP, the poll panel has taken additional steps in the intensive revision to ensure illegal migrants do not get enrolled in the voters' list. An additional 'declaration form' has been introduced for a category of applicants seeking to become electors or shifting from outside the state.They will have to undertake that they were born in India before July 1, 1987 and provide any document establishing date of birth and/or place of birth. One of the options listed in the declaration form is that they were born in India between July 1, 1987 and December 2, 2004. They will also have to submit documents about the date/place of birth of their parents. But Bihar voters list revision has come under attack from opposition parties claiming crores of eligible citizens will be devoid of voting rights for want of documents. The Supreme Court has asked EC to ensure that no eligible citizen is left behind. Some of the state chief electoral officers have started putting out voters' list published after the last SIR held in their states. The website of Delhi CEO has the 2008 voters' list when the last intensive revision took place in the national capital. In Uttarakhand the last SIR took place in 2006 and that year's electoral roll is now on the state CEO website. The last SIR in states will serve as cut off dates as 2003 voters' list of Bihar is being used by EC for intensive revision. Most of the states carried out revision of electoral rolls between 2002 and 2004.