Kerala’s ruling Left Democratic Front (LDF) and the Opposition United Democratic Front (UDF) came together on Monday to unanimously pass a resolution in the Assembly against the Election Commission of India‘s (ECI) plan to conduct a Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral rolls in the state.
‘SIR could be used as backdoor to implement National Population Register’
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan moved the resolution on Monday, which was supported by the Opposition after some of their suggestions were included. Two amendments proposed by MLA N. Shamsudheen were accepted, while others were rejected by the Speaker, according to PTI report.
The Assembly raised concerns that the SIR exercise could be used as a backdoor to implement the National Population Register. It cited the example of Bihar, where arbitrary deletions from the voters’ list had reflected a “politics of exclusion” that could spread nationwide.
The Assembly also stated that SIR is something which requires long and through preparation but it is being “rushed through” in Kerala, West Bengal and Tamil Nadu – basically all the states where elections are round the corner. “Such haste casts a shadow of doubt over the Election Commission’s intentions,” the resolution said.
Concerns over voting rights
The resolution stressed that Kerala will soon hold local body elections followed by Assembly polls, and therefore, pushing through the SIR at this time was “malicious”. The resolution also pointed out that the current revision is based on the 2002 intensive revision, calling it “unscientific”.
According to the new SIR rules, those born after 1987 must provide one parent’s citizenship documents, while those born after 2003 must produce documents of both parents to register as voters. The resolution said that these rules violate the principle of universal adult franchise guaranteed under Article 326 of the Constitution, the PTI report added.
Experts warned that such requirements could disenfranchise marginalised communities, including minorities, women, poor, Scheduled Castes, and Scheduled Tribes. The Assembly also underlined the need to protect voting rights of expatriates.
It further alleged that the SIR could be misused to push the Citizenship Amendment Act, which it described as an attempt to “communalise citizenship” and a threat to democracy.
In the end, the Assembly demanded that the Election Commission withdraw from these measures and instead carry out a fair, transparent update of the electoral rolls.