Thiruvananthapuram, Dec 19 (IANS) Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Friday raised serious concerns over the implementation of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in the state, warning that the process risked disenfranchising eligible voters and undermining the foundations of democracy.
Reacting to media reports that nearly 25 lakh names had been excluded from the draft voter list prepared under the SIR, the Chief Minister said the scale and nature of the deletions were deeply alarming.
He pointed out that, apart from deletions relating to deceased persons, permanent migrants, duplicate registrations and untraceable voters, a large number of names were being removed under an undefined “others” category.
“Even the Election Commission appears to lack clarity on who constitute these ‘others’,” Vijayan said, adding that the draft electoral rolls were riddled with serious anomalies.
Stressing that the right to vote could not be cancelled on technical grounds, the Chief Minister said voting was a fundamental democratic right that must be guaranteed to every adult citizen.
“Denying this right amounts to striking at the very roots of democracy,” he warned.
Vijayan recalled that Kerala last underwent a Special Intensive Revision exercise in 2002, when those who were under 18 years of age at the time — now citizens under the age of 40 — were required to establish lineage documents to secure inclusion in the voter list.
As the process remained incomplete, available information indicated that nearly two lakh people per district continued to remain outside the electoral rolls, he said.
The Chief Minister alleged that the Election Commission had carried out the present revision without adequate transparency.
He said the Commission bore responsibility for the current situation, having undertaken a complex and consultation-intensive voter list revision in undue haste, coinciding with the conduct of local body elections.
The state government and political parties had earlier sought reconsideration of the process, citing pressure being exerted on Booth Level Officers, but these concerns were ignored, Vijayan alleged.
He demanded that the Election Commission ensure that not a single eligible voter whose name appeared in the September 2025 Special Summary Revision was excluded under the ongoing SIR exercise.
All information related to the SIR process, he said, must be made publicly accessible.
The Chief Minister said the state government had approached the Supreme Court to protect voters’ rights, noting that the apex court had already taken serious note of the deficiencies and directed corrective action.
Calling for a review of the process, Vijayan urged the Election Commission to abandon haste and ensure that voter list revision prioritised inclusion over exclusion.
–IANS
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