चिदंबरम ने SIR प्रक्रिया पर सवाल, वोटर पुनः पंजीकरण के खर्चे की जाँच का आव्हान

India'Who is responsible?': Chidambaram questions SIR, asks why ECI didn’t flag form 6 re-enrolment

Chidambaram alleged that lakhs of voters had been excluded from West Bengal’s electoral rolls without due process.

Senior Congress leader and former Union minister P Chidambaram on Saturday questioned the process of excluding voters during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, asking who would bear the cost of re-enrolling those left out.

In a post on X, Chidambaram questioned why the Election Commission did not inform the Supreme Court during the hearing of the West Bengal SIR case that voters excluded from the rolls could re-enrol by filing Form 6.

“If ‘left out’ voters can re-enrol by simply filing a Form 6, why was this not pointed out to the Supreme Court when it was hearing the West Bengal S.I.R. case?” he said.

Chidambaram alleged that lakhs of voters had been excluded from West Bengal’s electoral rolls without due process. He noted that the Supreme Court subsequently ordered the creation of tribunals to hear appeals against the exclusions.

“Lakhs of voters were excluded from the electoral rolls in West Bengal without due process. The Supreme Court ordered the constitution of tribunals to hear appeals. Lakhs of appeals were filed. The judges toiled for six months,” he said.

According to Chidambaram, the tribunals disposed of around 1.26 lakh appeals, with 91-93 per cent of them being allowed, resulting in the restoration of the voters’ names to the electoral rolls.

“Was all this a waste? If re-enrolment can be done by simply filing a Form 6, it appears that the West Bengal exercise was a complete waste of time and money,” he said.

He also questioned the financial implications of the SIR exercise, alleging that crores of rupees had already been spent on excluding 13.30 crore names from the electoral rolls.

“Crores of rupees were spent in excluding 13,30,00,000 names. Now crores of rupees will be spent on re-enrolling the ‘left out’ voters. Who is responsible?” he asked.

Chidambaram's remarks came a day after Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi stepped up his criticism of the Election Commission and called for Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar to resign.

In a post on X on Gandhi Jayanti, Gandhi said thousands of young people were protesting against what he described as “vote theft” and alleged that hundreds of protesters had been detained.

Invoking Mahatma Gandhi's teachings on non-violence and truth, Gandhi said: “Bapu taught us exactly this - speak the truth, fight peacefully. And that's what scares this government the most.”

He added: “Because a lathi can stop a crowd, but not a question. Gyanesh Kumar will go. And the system that put him there will go too.”

Rahul Gandhi accuses Modi, Shah, Gyanesh of 'destroying democracy' through SIR, committing 'treason'

The issue has triggered demonstrations by opposition parties, student organisations and civil society groups in Delhi and Mumbai. More than 500 people were detained during protests in Delhi on Friday, while demonstrations were also held at Mumbai's Shivaji Park, with protesters calling for greater transparency in the electoral-roll revision process.

Several opposition leaders in Delhi, including AAP MLA Saurabh Bhardwaj, were detained amid prohibitory restrictions under Section 163 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023.

The opposition campaign against the Chief Election Commissioner is expected to continue, with the INDIA bloc planning further protests, including a programme on October 6 and a major rally in Delhi on November 1.

The latest political row follows a report by The Indian Express claiming that Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had raised objections at least 14 times over a 10-month period concerning decisions and procedures related to the SIR exercise and other electoral matters.

The reported objections included issues relating to Form 6, voter deletions and access to electoral-roll databases.

The Election Commission, however, rejected the suggestion that the reported objections amounted to institutional dissent over final decisions. The poll panel said operational queries, inputs and suggestions raised during the draft stage were part of its standard administrative and decision-making process.

The ECI also said decisions regarding the schedule of the SIR exercise were taken unanimously.

(With inputs from PTI)

The New Indian Express

www.newindianexpress.com

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