New Delhi: Amid protests over voter names deleted from the electoral rolls during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR), the Election Commission has begun a special enrolment drive across the 20 states and Union Territories where the exercise has been completed.
Voters in states where SIR has been completed will not have to use the additional declaration that was required alongside Form 6 during the SIR exercise. The commission has clarified that the declaration is an additional document used in states and UTs where SIR is being conducted and that the ordinary forms prescribed under the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960, apply during the non-SIR period.
The declaration requirement is linked to the SIR process, while the special enrolment drive is being carried out through the continuous-updation process. The commission directed chief electoral officers, district election officers and electoral registration officers to facilitate the inclusion of eligible voters who were left out of the rolls, including those identified in the ASDD category – Absent, Shifted, Dead or Deleted. The move comes against the backdrop of the controversy over SIR in West Bengal, where the revision and deletion of names from the electoral rolls have become a major political issue. Opposition parties and other groups have raised concerns over eligible voters being left out, while the Election Commission is providing a fresh route for eligible electors to seek inclusion after the completion of SIR. The EC’s special drive is also unfolding as INDIA bloc parties intensify their protests in the national capital over SIR and the functioning of the Election Commission. Opposition parties are demanding the ouster of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and raising objections to the electoral-roll revision process. The protests are also seeking restoration of voters’ names and greater transparency in the preparation and revision of electoral rolls.
This means eligible voters seeking inclusion in the 20 states and UTs where SIR is already complete can submit the regular Form 6 without the additional SIR declaration.
