Kerala Assembly passes unanimous resolution against Election Commission voter list revision

All parties backed CM Vijayan’s motion opposing the Special Intensive Revision, calling it hasty, exclusionary, and a threat to democratic rights.

Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala Assembly on Monday unanimously passed a resolution against the Election Commission of India (ECI)'s move to carry out the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voters' list in the state and urged the poll body to conduct the revision of voters' list in a transparent manner.

The Congress-led UDF opposition, which had already expressed their strong reservations against the SIR, backed the resolution in the House moved by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan.

In the resolution, the CM conveyed the concerns of the House about the "hasty move" by the ECI to implement the SIR and suspected "ill-motive" behind their action.

There are widespread concerns that the Election Commission's move to conduct SIR is a "backdoor" attempt to implement the National Register of Citizens (NRC), he pointed out.

The recent SIR process in Bihar confirms such concerns, he alleged, adding that it reflects "politics of exclusion."

Alleging that the SIR implemented in Bihar witnessed "illogical exclusions" of people from the voters' list, Vijayan said there is a suspicion across the country whether the same pattern is being pursued on a national basis.

In the resolution, the CM questioned the attempts being made to implement the SIR in poll-bound Kerala, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal while the constitutional validity of the Bihar SIR process is under consideration by the Supreme Court.

It cannot be viewed as an innocent move, the Left veteran noted.

There are widespread fear that the attempt by the Election Commission to implement the SIR, that requires long-term preparation and consultation, in a hasty manner is to sabotage democracy, he said.

It casts a shadow of suspicion over the Commission, he added.

"The local body elections in Kerala are due to be held soon. The assembly elections will be held immediately after that. In this situation, it is ill-intentioned to conduct the SIR in a hurry," he said.

Prior to this, a thorough revision of the voter list was carried out in Kerala in 2002. It is "unscientific" that the present revision is to be conducted based on 2002, he said.

The SIR's requirement that those born after 1987 can vote only if they provide their father's or mother's citizenship certificate is a decision that undermines the country's adult franchise, he noted.

It is also stipulated that those born after 2003 can cast their vote only if they submit the citizenship documents of their father and mother, he said.

Expert studies in this regard showed that people from marginalised sections of society are excluded from the electoral rolls due to such provisions in the SIR, the resolution pointed out.

The vast majority of those excluded would be from minority communities, Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, women, and those belonging to financially backward families, the CM further said.

Vijayan, in the resolution, also wanted to maintain the voting rights of non-resident voters in the electoral rolls.

He also expressed concerns about the possible use of the SIR by those who try to revive the Citizenship Amendment Act, which makes citizenship based on religion.

It is a challenge to democracy, the chief minister further said.

The Assembly unanimously demands that the Election Commission refrain from such practices that violate fundamental rights of people. It also demands to conduct the revision of voters' list in a transparent manner, the CM added.

After amendments suggested by some members, Speaker A N Shamseer announced that the House has unanimously passed the resolution.