<p>Mumbai: The <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/tags/congress">Congress</a> has urged the Election Commission to ensure that the <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/tags/special-intensive-revision">Special Intensive Revision</a> (SIR) of electoral rolls in Maharashtra is conducted in a fair and transparent manner, without haste.</p><p>The Congress said in its list of demands that the SIR process and Census-related work should not be handled by the same officials. </p><p>To press their demand, a Congress delegation met Maharashtra’s Chief Electoral Officer S Chockalingam at Mantralaya and submitted a 10-page memorandum. </p><p>The delegation was led by Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee president Harshavardhan Sapkal. </p>.Panel asks EC to ensure fair voter process drive amid questions raised about electoral rolls revision.<p>The delegation included Leader of the Congress Legislature Party Vijay Wadettiwar, former minister and Congress Working Committee invitee member Naseem Khan, AICC secretary and Telangana co-incharge Sachin Sawant, state general secretary Sandesh Kondvilkar, and general secretary Abhijit Sapkal, among others.</p><p>Speaking to reporters, Sapkal said the SIR process was last carried out in Maharashtra between 2002 and 2004 over nearly 13 months without haste. </p><p>"Given that the voter base has increased by approximately 3.5 crore over the past 25 years, the current exercise should be carefully planned,” he said. </p><p>“Complaints have surfaced alleging that voters from specific castes and religions are being deliberately excluded. In some states, irregularities have reportedly been observed in SIR drives conducted close to elections, with allegations that the process benefits the ruling party,” he said. </p><p>He demanded that political parties be provided SIR data in soft copy, OCR, machine-readable formats, as well as hard copies.</p><p>A minimum of one month should be given to file objections or respond to notices. He urged that at least seven days’ notice must be issued to hear an individual’s response before deleting any voter’s name. </p><p>“SIR data should be preserved for at least five years at the ERO and DEO levels and made available to political parties as required. Form 7 applications must be scrutinised rigorously. Lists of voters marked as “Absent, Shifted, or Dead” (ASD) should be shared in a timely manner with recognised political parties at the booth level,” he said. </p>
<p>Mumbai: The <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/tags/congress">Congress</a> has urged the Election Commission to ensure that the <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/tags/special-intensive-revision">Special Intensive Revision</a> (SIR) of electoral rolls in Maharashtra is conducted in a fair and transparent manner, without haste.</p><p>The Congress said in its list of demands that the SIR process and Census-related work should not be handled by the same officials. </p><p>To press their demand, a Congress delegation met Maharashtra’s Chief Electoral Officer S Chockalingam at Mantralaya and submitted a 10-page memorandum. </p><p>The delegation was led by Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee president Harshavardhan Sapkal. </p>.Panel asks EC to ensure fair voter process drive amid questions raised about electoral rolls revision.<p>The delegation included Leader of the Congress Legislature Party Vijay Wadettiwar, former minister and Congress Working Committee invitee member Naseem Khan, AICC secretary and Telangana co-incharge Sachin Sawant, state general secretary Sandesh Kondvilkar, and general secretary Abhijit Sapkal, among others.</p><p>Speaking to reporters, Sapkal said the SIR process was last carried out in Maharashtra between 2002 and 2004 over nearly 13 months without haste. </p><p>"Given that the voter base has increased by approximately 3.5 crore over the past 25 years, the current exercise should be carefully planned,” he said. </p><p>“Complaints have surfaced alleging that voters from specific castes and religions are being deliberately excluded. In some states, irregularities have reportedly been observed in SIR drives conducted close to elections, with allegations that the process benefits the ruling party,” he said. </p><p>He demanded that political parties be provided SIR data in soft copy, OCR, machine-readable formats, as well as hard copies.</p><p>A minimum of one month should be given to file objections or respond to notices. He urged that at least seven days’ notice must be issued to hear an individual’s response before deleting any voter’s name. </p><p>“SIR data should be preserved for at least five years at the ERO and DEO levels and made available to political parties as required. Form 7 applications must be scrutinised rigorously. Lists of voters marked as “Absent, Shifted, or Dead” (ASD) should be shared in a timely manner with recognised political parties at the booth level,” he said. </p>