ECI gives fresh opportunity to electors left out of draft rolls in 7 states during SIR
The Congress termed the latest direction from the Election Commission a ‘U-turn’ and said this is a ‘belated admission that wrongful deletion and exclusion’ have taken place
Facing allegations of disenfranchising crores of voters, the Election Commission on Friday (November 6) gave a fresh chance to electors of seven states who were marked as Absent, Shifted, Dead and Duplicate (ASDD), and whose names could not be included in the draft rolls during the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise.
In a letter, the EC directed the chief electoral officers of Delhi, Maharashtra, Haryana, Andhra Pradesh, Jharkhand, Telangana, and Nagaland to facilitate the inclusion of such electors in the final electoral rolls. The decision covers electors who were issued enumeration forms but whose forms were not received back, resulting in their exclusion from the draft rolls.
The opposition has accused the EC of deleting the names of crores of eligible citizens from the electoral rolls at the behest of the BJP. The poll authority has defended the revision, citing its validation by the Supreme Court.
As part of the exercise to include those left out, booth-wise lists of such electors, along with probable reasons for their exclusion, will be displayed at polling stations and designated local government offices. The lists will also be uploaded on the websites of the respective Chief Electoral Officers.
EC’s directions to officials
The commission has directed officials to provide fresh enumeration forms to these electors and make all possible efforts to contact them through Booth Level Officers (BLOs), including house-to-house visits, WhatsApp, e-mail, and SMS.
Electors who have not shifted residence can submit their duly filled enumeration forms along with a statement explaining why they could not submit them earlier.
Those who have shifted within the state need not file Form-8 for a change of address but must submit the enumeration form along with a statement mentioning their new address and assembly constituency, supported by address proof.
Also Read: SIR row: Is Election Commission facing crisis of competence or intent?
In the case of homeless electors who do not possess address documents, the BLO's field verification report will be accepted as proof of residence.
The EC said applications would be scrutinised by Electoral Registration Officers under Rule 21(1) of the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960. Accepted applications will be kept separately for inclusion in the final electoral roll, with the electors retaining their previous EPIC numbers.
Electors who have already submitted Form-6 for fresh enrolment during the SIR will not be required to submit the Enumeration Form again.
‘Belated admission that wrongful deletion took place’: Congress
The Congress on Friday termed the latest direction from the Election Commission a "U-turn" and said this is a "belated admission that wrongful deletion and exclusion" has taken place.
The opposition party also reiterated its demand that Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar must go and the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls must be suspended.
Also Read: SIR explained: From voter deletions to Form 6, what has changed?
Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh said in a post on X, "Another day, yet another U-turn. The Election Commission of India has just issued instructions to include left-out voters in the on-going SIR in seven states/UTs. This is a belated admission that wrongful deletion and exclusion have indeed taken place under the ASDD (Absent, Shifted, Dead, Duplicate) category.”
The ECI is carrying out corrective-after-corrective following the nationwide outrage and anger over SIR which has robbed over 13 crore Indians of their constitutional right to vote, he said.
‘SIR latest form of Vote Chori’
"Every new set of orders begs the question: what was the point of this bureaucratic mess that every Indian has been put through? These repeated clarifications and amendments actually expose the true intent of the diabolical PM-HM (Narendra Modi-Amit Shah). They have been caught out," Ramesh said.
Also Read: EC refuses to answer RTI queries on SIR, ECINET: Can SC intervene?
"SIR is the latest form of Vote Chori. And now that the Chori has been caught, the ECI and the PM-HM duo are doing everything to cover their tracks," he alleged.
Every corrective also reinforces what has become abundantly clear - Gyanesh Kumar must go and SIR must be suspended, Ramesh added.
(With agency inputs)