CPI M Condemns ECI’s Move to Extend Special Intensive Revision to Twelve States

New Delhi: The Polit Bureau of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) has strongly criticised the Election Commission of India (ECI) for extending the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral rolls to twelve states, terming it an undemocratic exercise that risks mass disenfranchisement of the poor and marginalised.

In a statement issued on Wednesday, the CPI M said the experience in Bihar had already shown how the SIR process led to large numbers of people from weaker sections being excluded from the voters’ list. The party expressed concern that the ECI was pressing ahead with the process even though the question of its jurisdiction in determining citizenship was still pending before the Supreme Court.

“The Constitution clearly states that citizenship is a prerequisite for voter registration, but its determination is not within the Election Commission’s purview,” the statement noted.

CPI M pointed out that in Bihar, the ECI had to concede that the eleven documents it demanded as proof need not be attached initially with the enrollment forms. Even Aadhaar, included only after the Supreme Court’s intervention, is treated merely as proof of residence. “The insistence on documents rarely held by the poor and vulnerable will disproportionately disenfranchise them,” the CPI M warned.

Reiterating its position, the party said the responsibility of enrolling voters lies entirely with the ECI and should not be shifted onto the people themselves. Despite the Commission’s refusal to disclose the guidelines used in Bihar in 2003, it had become evident that the current process differed significantly from official claims, the statement added.

The CPI M asserted that while it supports error-free and transparent electoral rolls, the SIR should not be used as a pretext to determine citizenship or advance the BJP’s divisive Hindutva agenda.