New Delhi [India], September 9 (ANI): Former Union Minister and Congress leader P Chidambaram on Wednesday termed the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls a “flawed” exercise, questioning the large-scale deletion of names from voter lists and calling the process “farcical”, “laughable” and “unconstitutional”.
Speaking to ANI on the SIR exercise, Chidambaram said, “The SIR is a flawed process. It is a flawed exercise. Even Nobel laureate Amartya Sen's name was deleted. Yesterday, we saw that Professor C.N.R. Rao's name was deleted.”
He said the Election Commission should be responsible for establishing whether an adult citizen is eligible to vote, rather than requiring citizens to prove that they were born in India.
“If I'm born in India, when I reach 18 years of age, I will be entitled to vote. I don't have to prove that I was born in India. I have to prove that I am 18 years of age. It is for the Election Commission to prove,” Chidambaram said.
"Every adult citizen in India is presumed to have been born in India until you prove that he was not born in India and he came into India as an immigrant or an illegal immigrant," he added.
He claimed that 13.30 crore names had been deleted across three phases of the exercise, and questioned the suggestion that such deletions were linked to illegal immigration.
“In phase one, 65.1 lakhs were deleted. In phase two, 6.5 crore were deleted. In phase three, 6.1 crore were deleted. If you look at the adult population number and the deletions, it amounts to phase one, 7.9 per cent were deleted. Phase two, it increased to 12.6 per cent, and in phase three, it increased to 17.18 per cent. So overall, deletions are 13 crore 30 lakhs,” he said.
“Surely, 13.30 crore did not come into India from Bangladesh or any other place as illegal immigrants. To state that is laughable; it's farcical,” Chidambaram added.
On the appeal process against deletions, the Congress leader claimed that a large majority of appeals in West Bengal had resulted in names being reinstated.
“Some BJP bucks say you can file an appeal. What happened in West Bengal after filing an appeal? 82,782 appeals were disposed of by the judges appointed for that purpose, and of that, 75,433 appeals were allowed, and the names were reinstated, which means 91 per cent of the appeals have been allowed,” he said.
Chidambaram further claimed that around seven lakh appeals had been filed and argued that, at the current rate, it could take decades to dispose of them.
“Now, if you look at the number of appeals, it will take 20 years to dispose of these appeals. I am told 7 lakh appeals have been filed. It'll take at this rate 20 years to dispose of the appeals,” he said.
"Once it is disposed of, assuming 91% are allowed, 6 crore people are entitled to be reinstated in the electoral roll. For 20 years, they cannot vote in several elections. So this whole process is farcical; it's laughable, it's illegal, it's unconstitutional," he added.
His remarks come amid ongoing political concerns over the SIR exercise in several states.
Meanwhile, in Karnataka, Bengaluru Urban District Election Officer and BBMP Chief Commissioner Maheshwar Rao on Wednesday clarified that no notice was issued to Bharat Ratna recipient Professor CNR Rao regarding the SIR exercise in Malleswaram Assembly Constituency.
The clarification came following media reports claiming that a notice had been served to the eminent scientist.
According to an official statement, the State SVEEP Nodal Officer and the Commissioner, BBMP West, visited Rao's residence and handed over Enumeration Forms to him and his family members. The required information was subsequently filled in.
The statement said Rao was listed in the 2002 electoral roll under the name “Rama”. He is currently registered as “Professor C.N. Rao M”, and his name has been included in the draft electoral roll.
During the SIR hearing process, the Booth Level Officer noted the discrepancy in his name and recommended including it in the final electoral roll without issuing any notice. Necessary action is being taken to include his name in the final electoral roll.
Meanwhile, AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi has sought a further four-week extension for electors to file claims and objections against deletions during the SIR exercise in Telangana.
Owaisi visited SIR centres in Hyderabad's Karwan constituency on Tuesday and claimed that several voters had received notices over discrepancies.
The Election Commission on September 7 revised the SIR schedule for Telangana, extending the claims and objections period to October 7 from September 16. The final electoral rolls are scheduled to be published on November 9.
Owaisi also alleged that some people who were alive had been marked as deceased in the draft electoral rolls.
The draft electoral rolls were released on August 17, and notices were generated for over 92 lakh electors over discrepancies. More than 73 lakh names were excluded from the list under the Absent, Shifted, Duplicate and Dead (ASDD) categories. (ANI)
"13.30 crore deletions is laughable, farcical”: P Chidambaram attacks SIR process
