Bhubaneswar, May 14 (IANS) In the wake of the Election Commission of India’s (ECI) announcement regarding the conduct of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) Phase-III exercise in 16 states and three Union Territories, including Odisha, senior Biju Janata Dal (BJD) leader and Rajya Sabha MP Sasmit Patra on Thursday wrote to Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar, urging the ECI to ensure a transparent and error-free SIR process in Odisha commencing from May 30.

In his letter, Patra drew the attention of CEC Gyanesh Kumar to his earlier representations regarding issues observed during the preliminary verification phase of the SIR exercise in Odisha.

These included the alleged wrongful identification of around 9.8 lakh voters for potential deletion, inconsistencies in field verification practices, the unusually large scale of proposed deletions and the substantial number of objections subsequently received from citizens.

He also stated that the instructions issued by the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), Odisha, for re-verification and corrective review after irregularities surfaced during the pre-SIR process had further underscored the importance of heightened vigilance and procedural safeguards during the full SIR exercise scheduled to commence later this month.

Emphasising that accurate electoral rolls are crucial to the integrity of the democratic process, Patra wrote: “Equally, it is essential that eligible electors are not inadvertently excluded due to procedural gaps, documentation deficiencies, or verification errors. In a large-scale exercise such as this, even limited lapses may affect a significant number of genuine voters and lead to avoidable public concern.”

The BJD MP also urged the CEC to ensure proper, documented and verifiable field inquiries before voter deletions, provide adequate advance notice to affected electors, strengthen monitoring in areas reporting high deletions and establish accessible, time-bound and citizen-friendly grievance redressal mechanisms.

He further sought periodic public disclosure of constituency-wise progress and category-wise correction and deletion data, focused outreach for vulnerable groups and remote populations, better coordination with political parties and Booth Level Agents (BLAs), and deployment of dedicated review or observer teams during critical stages of the SIR exercise.

“The experiences arising from the pre-SIR phase provide an important opportunity to further strengthen safeguards before commencement of the formal SIR process in Odisha. Timely preventive and corrective measures at this stage would significantly reinforce public confidence in the integrity, inclusiveness and credibility of the electoral process,” Patra said.

The senior BJD leader expressed hope that the ECI would ensure the Odisha SIR exercise is conducted fairly, transparently and with full protection of voters’ rights.

Notably, as part of the SIR process in the state, around 38,123 Booth Level Officers (BLOs) will carry out door-to-door verification of voters’ details.

To assist them in the exercise, 27,723 Booth Level Agents have been appointed by various political parties across the state.

–IANS

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