Former Chief Election Commissioner O.P. Rawat has said a Special Intensive Revision (SIR) wasn’t needed to remove dead or migrated voters, warning that the number of voters disenfranchised could far exceed the 65 lakh figure projected by the Election Commission.
Speaking at a webinar organised by Association for Democratic Reforms, Rawat said: “In the case of undocumented migrants who are illegally voting in India, the data is with the Home ministry. If prima facie case is made against an unlawful voter, the EC can act accordingly.”
The former CEC said the number of voters disenfranchised could be far higher than what has been projected.
“There will be many more whose documents will be rejected or who won’t be able to submit these in time. For the daily workers finding a day’s employment is much more important than anything else. They will be disenfranchised,” Rawat said.
The former CEC said whether the EC is legally empowered to decide on citizenship finally rests with the Supreme Court.
“This was not the best way to deal with migrated and dead voters. They have a lot of paraphernalia. They have AERONET. Any duplicate names will appear on the screen. If the demographic details and photographs match they can ask the voters which constituency they want to retain, the rest will be deducted. One such exercise was conducted rigorously in 2023 when the number of voters actually came down,” Rawat said.
The RJD’ Rajya Sabha MP Manoj Kumar Jha, one of the petitioners against central poll panel’s SIR in Bihar, has said opacity has become the hallmark of an institution like the Election Commission.
“Any institution in a democracy where opacity becomes the hallmark… fact is that it’s one of the most critical juncture, if we don’t get an assurance of a clean roll, maximisation of inclusion takes place,” Jha said.
“I hope the SC looks at the fact that in Bihar it (the SIR) has created a mass upheaval. In the list (draft electoral roll), there is no classification, who belongs to which category. No EPIC number has been provided,” Jha alleged. “If I have to look for one name out of 40,000 deleted, how will I do it without the EPIC number?”
Jha also expressed apprehension over the EC’s refusal to consider Aadhaar, EPIC and ration card among the documents to be submitted for inclusion or staying in the electoral rolls.
Jha’s comments came barely an hour after leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi shared “evidence” of the EC’s “colluding with the BJP to steal elections” at a widely telecast news conference held in Delhi’s Indira Bhawan.
BJP MP Sambit Patra said, "Rahul Gandhi said that if there is no reply to my press conference, then there will be serious consequences. He said that if the opposition comes to power in the future, then they will take action against each official of the Election Commission of India. Is this a language of LoP? Rahul Gandhi and the Congress party never did any press conference on those states where they won the election."
The SIR announced in June this year was held last month and till date according to the EC around 65 lakh voters have been deleted from the draft electoral rolls. The matter is since being heard in the Supreme Court which allowed the EC to carry on with the exercise.
