Gyanesh Kumar: The battle over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls has grown loud and intense, drawing stronger political and legal heat on the Chief Election Commissioner, Gyanesh Kumar.
Questions grow over the Election Commission
The recent climax to the controversy was triggered after news emerged that election commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had objected multiple times to decisions related to electoral-roll management, such as addition and deletion of voters and the centralization of electoral data. The Election Commission has argued that such discussions and observations are integral to its functioning. The developments have rekindled opposition criticism of the SIR exercise, in particular over worries that voters could be kicked out or flagged in the register.
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Congress steps up its criticism
The exercise, which has been fiercely condemned by Congress, has been questioned by all party leaders over the question of implementation and when some of the qualifying voters are allegedly removed from the electoral rolls. The party has labeled the process as ‘arbitrary’ and ‘random.’ The debate has now escalated to the Supreme Court, where the Election Commission has been interrogated over certain facets of the SIR method.
CJP issues a 48-hour ultimatum
While others have been playing it safe, the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) has been making a different kind of noise. Speaking to Catch, CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke said, “We will tell him to resign first and foremost, and we have asked the CEC to resign within 48 hours.” Otherwise, we will start a nationwide agitation and an indefinite strike in Delhi. Thus, SIR is playing out on multiple planes simultaneously.
The issue now moves towards courts and protests
Gyanesh Kumar: The SIR controversy is therefore developing on several fronts at once. Political parties are raising questions over the electoral-roll revision; the Supreme Court is examining specific aspects of the process, while CJP has announced further street-level mobilization.
