New Delhi, Oct 28 (IANS) The Election Commission of India (ECI) has launched the second phase of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voter lists across 12 States and Union Territories, including poll-bound Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Kerala, and Puducherry. The move aims to ensure cleaner and more accurate electoral rolls.

Reacting to the development, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Janata Dal (United) leaders have welcomed the initiative, calling it a necessary step to remove fake and duplicate voters.

Suvendu Adhikari, Leader of the Opposition in the West Bengal Assembly told IANS, “Fake voters must be removed. This is not a new exercise—voter list revisions have been conducted eight times since Independence. Such revisions should continue to ensure that elections are held with clean and accurate voter rolls.”

BJP leader Kapil Dev Aggarwal said, “The way the SIR results came out in Bihar reveals the truth. Despite repeated objections and allegations of ‘vote chori’ by Rahul Gandhi, Mamata Banerjee, and others, their claims have been proven baseless. If the Election Commission conducts SIR surveys to prevent fraudulent voting and eliminate bogus voters, we fully welcome that. No political party should have any objection to such a transparent exercise.”

Echoing similar views, BJP leader and Karnataka MLC C.T. Ravi said, “This revision is essential. I have come to know that names of some Bangladeshi citizens have been included in the lists. Bringing in voters from Italy or Pakistan is not acceptable in India’s democracy. Our Constitution does not permit such irregularities.”

BJP leader Chandrashekhar Bawankule pointed out discrepancies in voter data, saying, “In voter lists, new names get added frequently, but deletions are rarely done. Unless the Election Commission conducts door-to-door verification and seeks legal backing where needed, the lists will remain inaccurate. In my constituency, there are 5,40,000 voters when ideally there should be around 2,50,000. Many people have moved to suburban areas, yet their names remain in both places. The ECI’s SIR initiative will finally help correct such errors. I congratulate the Commission for acting on a long-standing demand.”

Another BJP leader T.S. Srivatsa also praised the step, saying, “We welcome this decision. It will benefit all parties equally. Genuine voters will face no issues, while fake voters will be identified and removed.”

Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai said, “This is a commendable step. We welcome the Election Commission’s decision and hope that the SIR process is implemented effectively.”

JD(U) leader Rajeev Ranjan Prasad supported the pan-India rollout of SIR 2.0, saying, “The SIR was successfully conducted in Bihar, ensuring transparency and fair voting. The ECI’s renewed effort for clean and accurate voter lists is a welcome move. No eligible voter should be left out.”

Briefing the media about the voter revision exercise, Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar on Monday congratulated the polling officials as well as electors for a successful SIR in Bihar and explained in detail the procedure and rationale of undertaking the ‘purification drive’, from time to time.

The CEC said that since Independence, the SIR has been undertaken in the country as many as 8 times, between 1951 to 2004 and the last one took place in 2004. He added that political parties have been repeatedly urging it to conduct voter verification to ensure only legitimate voters participate in the electoral process.

He said that it is essential to clean the electoral rolls after every few years because of reasons like voter duplication, removal of names of those who have either passed away or have permanently shifted out of the poll-bound state.

–IANS

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