EC says Chidambaram's statements misleading, absurd to connect Bihar SIR with Tamil Nadu

Raising questions on SIR, Chidambaram suggested that migrant workers were being registered as voters in Tamil Nadu and called it a gross interference in the right of the electorate of the southern state to elect a government of its choice.

New Delhi: The Election Commission on Sunday dismissed as false former Union minister P Chidambaram's claim about "adding" of 6.5 lakh voters in Tamil Nadu and said it was absurd to connect the ongoing special intensive revision in Bihar with Tamil Nadu, where SIR has not been rolled out yet.

Raising questions on SIR, Chidambaram in his posts on X suggested that migrant workers were being registered as voters in Tamil Nadu and called it a gross interference in the right of the electorate of the southern state to elect a government of its choice.

"While 65 lakh voters are in danger of being disenfranchised in Bihar, reports of 'adding' 6.5 lakh persons as voters in Tamil Nadu is alarming and patently illegal," he said.

"Every Indian has a right to live and work in any state where he has a permanent home.... How did the ECI come to the conclusion that several lakh persons, whose names are in the current electoral rolls of Bihar, must be excluded because they had 'permanently migrated' out of the state?" he said.

"A person to be enrolled as a voter must have a fixed and permanent legal home. The migrant worker has such a home in Bihar (or another state). How can he/she be enrolled as a voter in Tamil Nadu?" Chidambaram said.

If the migrant worker's family has a permanent home in Bihar and lives in Bihar, how can the migrant worker be considered as "permanently migrated" to Tamil Nadu? Chidambaram said and alleged that EC "is abusing its powers and trying to change the electoral character and patterns of states".

In a fact-check post on X, the EC said such statements are misleading and baseless.

According to Article 19(1)(e), all citizens shall have the right to reside and settle in any part of the territory of India, it said, As per Section 19(b) of the Representation of the People Act, 1950, every person who is an ordinary resident in a constituency shall be entitled to be registered in the electoral roll of that constituency, it said, adding it is for the voters to come forward and get registered in the constituency they are eligible for.

"Therefore, a person originally belonging to Tamil Nadu, but is ordinarily residing in Delhi, is entitled to be registered as an elector in Delhi.

"Similarly, a person originally belonging to Bihar, but is ordinarily residing in Chennai, is entitled to be registered as an elector in Chennai," EC explained.

It said there is "no need" for political leaders to "spread false information with respect to the SIR exercise being conducted by EC at the national level.

"It has come to the notice of the ECI that such information is being deliberately peddled in the media with a view to obstruct the exercise. As far as voters who have permanently shifted from Bihar to other states and are ordinarily resident in those states, the exact figures can be known only after the SIR has been conducted," it said.

The Constitution, read with the RP Act 1950, envisages enrollment of voters with respect to the constituency in which they are ordinarily resident. It is for the voters to come forward and get enrolled in the constituency where they are eligible, it said.

"But, it is noticed that some false figures are being floated about the enrollment of 6.5 lakh voters in Tamil Nadu. SIR has not yet been rolled out in TN It is therefore absurd to connect the SIR exercise in Bihar with TN," it underlined.