Parties term extension of SIR schedule insufficient

While the Election Commission of India (EC) has extended the schedule of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls by a week in Kerala, political parties in the State termed it insufficient and have requested that it be extended further.

At a weekly review meeting convened by Chief Electoral officer (Kerala) Rathan U. Kelkar, representatives of major political parties slammed the EC for “creating a situation” where the Supreme Court had to step in to adopt a stance favourable to Kerala.

While the Communist Party of India (Marxist) sought more time for completing the SIR at Saturday’s meeting, the Communist Party of India demanded that the enumeration phase be extended till December end and the Kerala Congress till January 31, 2026.

Former Minister M. Vijayakumar of the CPI(M) observed that Kerala’s fight for SIR extension was noticed nationally. But the latest extension by a week given by the EC was insufficient. He urged the EC to suo motu decide on a further extension.

M.K. Rahman of the Congress said that, on an average, 120 to 150 names were on the ‘absent, shifted, dead’ (ASD) list in every polling station. This could lead to lakhs of people being excluded from the final rolls. The additional time announced by the EC on Friday was insufficient, he said.

Sathyan Mokeri of the CPI criticised the EC for “creating a situation” where the Supreme Court had to intervene. He demanded that the enumeration phase be extended till December 31. “Why create a scare in the people that they would lose their citizenship,” he said, adding that the EC would be responsible even if a single eligible voter were to be excluded from the rolls.

Mohammed Shah, State secretary of the Indian Union Muslim League, urged Mr. Kelkar to urgently convene a meeting with organisations representing overseas Malayalis since NORKA had not conducted it. He also termed the time given in the SIR schedule for filing of claims and objections and their resolution as inadequate.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) blamed other political parties for creating a needless scare about the SIR. J.R. Padmakumar, who represented the BJP, urged election officials to ensure that no individual was excluded from the rolls without a proper hearing.

Mathew George of the Kerala Congress, K. Jayakumar of the RSP, and K. Anandakumar of the Kerala Congress (M) also spoke.