Kerala Governor Launches Voter List Revision Amid Protests from Left, UDF
Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar on Thursday initiated the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voter lists in the state, though the ruling Left and Opposition Congress-led UDF continued to protest the practice.
Launching the SIR at Raj Bhavan, the Governor said the revised voter list should be complete as well as more accurate and inclusive to facilitate free and fair elections.
He also appealed to the election authorities in the state to ensure that no voter is left out in the revised voter list, according to the Raj Bhavan statement.
Arlekar appealed to the people of Kerala to support and cooperate wholeheartedly to make the SIR process fast and error-free.
The statement stated that the Governor guaranteed all support to election officials.
Kerala Chief Electoral Officer Ratan U Kelkar explained the SIR process and procedure to the Governor.
Additional Electoral Officer Sharmila C, Additional Electoral Officer Krishnadasan P, Rusi RS, General Electoral Officer Madhu, Electoral Registration Officer Madhu and Booth Level Officer Benazir were also present on the occasion.
The exercise was launched a day after the Cabinet decided to hold an all-party meeting to discuss steps to be taken against the initiative.
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, at a press conference here, had said that the EC’s decision to implement the SIR “hastily” was worrying.
He said the Kerala Legislative Assembly had unanimously passed a resolution pointing out the dangers of this move, which challenges the very democratic process of our country, and called for withdrawal of SIR and revision of voter list to be done in a transparent manner.
