Congress' Lok Sabha MP from South Goa Viriato Fernandes has alleged that he received a notice from the Election Commission of India (ECI), in which he was asked to appear before it with documents to prove his identity in order to retain his name in the electoral rolls.

Fernandes, a former Indian Navy officer, said that subjecting an MP to this kind of scrutiny confirms concerns raised by the Opposition that the ECI's Special Intensive Revision (SIR) was aimed at deleting the names of legitimate voters to prevent them from participating in the voting process.

In a social media post, Fernandes said, "Received notice from the ECI to appear with documents for proving my identity in order to retain his name in electoral roll. This notice is coming on the backdrop of ECI having subjected every contestant during last Lok Sabha polls in 2024, including me, with the highest level of scrutiny before clearing name for contesting the elections." "Incidentally, I have been voting since 1989 after becoming eligible, thanks to late PM Shri Rajiv Gandhi Ji's initiative of giving voting rights for 18 year olds," he said.

He said he has travelled to Goa multiple times "from far off places of military posting" during his 26 years of service in the Indian Navy just to cast his vote, be it for Lok Sabha, assembly or zilla panchayat election.

"If a Member of Parliament can be subjected to this scrutiny, wonder the state of a common man, confirming concerns raised (by) Opposition parties and NGOs/Citizens about SIR being carried out by ECI to delete names of legitimate voters and prevent (them) from participating in the democratic process of voting," he added.

Despite multiple attempts, officials from the state Election Commission were not available for a comment on the issue.

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