New Delhi: The Election Commission has directed its state poll machinery to refer cases of “suspected foreign nationals” to competent authorities during the special intensive revision of voters’ list.
The EC also underlined that for electors whose enumeration forms have not returned, the Booth Level Officers (BLOs) would identify a probable cause, such as absent, shifted, dead and duplicate entry based on an inquiry from the nearby electors and would note the same.
In a detailed set of instructions circulated on May 14 to state chief electoral officers on procedure to be followed while holding SIR, the poll authority said “…Also, electoral registration officers (EROs) will refer cases of suspected foreign nationals to the competent authority under the Citizenship Act, 1955. For these purposes, assistant EROs shall exercise ERO’s powers independently…”
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As the EC was preparing for SIR in Bihar last year, its officials had claimed that several nationals from Bangladesh, Nepal and Myanmar were found by its grassroots level functionaries.
But eventually, the poll authority did not share any numbers or proof of such people who were not eligible to be on the voters’ list.
Opposition parties had dubbed the EC’s claims as a ploy to carry out SIR to target electors not aligned to the BJP and its allies.
On May 14, the poll authority had launched phase III of SIR in 16 states and three Union Territories involving 36.73 crore voters in a staggered manner beginning May 30.
The states and UTs where the SIR is being carried out are Delhi, Odisha, Mizoram, Sikkim, Manipur, Uttarakhand, Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Haryana, Chandigarh, Telangana, Punjab, Karnataka, Meghalaya, Maharashtra, Jharkhand, Nagaland, Tripura, Dadar and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu.
Punjab, Jharkhand, Karnataka and Telangana are opposition-ruled among the states where the SIR exercise will be held.
Over 3.94 lakh BLOs will go house-to-house of 36.73 crore electors during the latest poll roll revision exercise. They will be assisted by 3.42 lakh booth level agents (BLAs) appointed by political parties during the enumeration phase.
The schedule for the SIR in Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh will be announced later keeping in view weather conditions in snow-bound areas.
The SIR has already been concluded in Bihar, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Puducherry, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Chhattisgarh, Goa, Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Lakshadweep.
A “special revision” was conducted in Assam.
The combined voters’ list of nine states and three UTs in phase 2 of SIR was pruned by 10.2 per cent, with over 60 lakh dead voters removed.
The voter base across the 12 states and UTs stood at more than 50.99 crore when phase 2 of the SIR was announced by the EC on October 27 last.
Post the exercise, the voters’ list stands at 45.81 crore a decline of over 5.18 crore. In percentage terms, the electoral rolls have been reduced by 10.2 per cent.
Due to a variety of reasons, SIR has seen frequent tweaking in schedules. For instance when the SIR exercise was underway in Bihar, political parties had approached the Supreme Court challenging SIR in Tamil Nadu and West Bengal.
TMC president and then West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee had also personally pleaded before a bench of the chief justice of India against the poll roll cleanup exercise in her state.
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