SIR threatens fundamental democratic right of citizens, says Seeman

Naam Tamilar Katchi (NTK) leader Seeman on Saturday criticised the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, which has resulted in nearly one crore voters in Tamil Nadu being deleted and has posed a threat to the citizens’ most fundamental democratic right to vote.

Addressing media persons on the side lines of the NTK Youth Wing State consultative meeting held at a private hall here, Mr. Seeman said that a revision exercise was meant to correct errors, not “erase and rewrite the rolls altogether”. With the Election Commission likely to announce the Assembly election schedule by February, he questioned how omitted voters could be re-enrolled within a short span of two months.

The right to vote is the most valuable right of the people. Now people are forced to struggle to protect that right, he said. While the removal of duplicate entries and names of the deceased was acceptable, he said the deletion of migrant voters was unjustifiable.

He questioned the urgency with which a large-scale exercise was carried out within a limited time frame and said the inability of the government machinery to safeguard voting rights reflected “administrative irresponsibility”.