Nationwide SIR? Election Commission to hold key meet next week
Through the SIR, the poll body wants to weed out foreign illegal migrants, especially those from Bangladesh and Myanmar, by checking their place of birth. As part of the SIR, the EC officials will conduct house-to-house verification to ensure an error-free voters list.
The Election Commission of India (ECI) will hold a key meeting with its state representatives on September 10 to discuss the possibility of conducting a nationwide special intensive revision (SIR), said officials on Saturday. This will be the third meeting of CEOs that will be held after Gyanesh Kumar took over as the chief election commissioner in February.
The drive could be conducted later this year or in early 2026. Notably, assembly elections are slated to be held in Assam, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Puducherry next year.
Why the Election Commission wants to conduct nationwide SIR?
Through the SIR, the poll body wants to weed out foreign illegal migrants, especially those from Bangladesh and Myanmar, by checking their place of birth. As part of the SIR, the EC officials will conduct house-to-house verification to ensure an error-free voters list.
At present, the SIR drive was conducted only in Bihar, where assembly elections will be held later this year.
Oppn slams SIR in Bihar
The opposition has constantly criticised the SIR drive in Bihar and alleged that the poll body has fudged voter data to help the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its allies. However, the ECI has refuted all the charges and maintained that the SIR is being conducted to take action against illegal foreign migrants.
However, the ECI 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 the 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 special intensive revision held in their states.
(With inputs from PTI)