The Kerala legislative assembly is poised to unanimously pass a resolution objecting to the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the state’s electoral rolls. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan is scheduled to present the resolution in the assembly on Monday.
The move follows widespread concern among political parties. During a recent meeting convened by Kerala’s Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), Rathan U Kelkar, various parties voiced their reservations about the SIR. Subsequently, Kelkar wrote to the Election Commission of India (ECI) to request the postponement of the SIR in Kerala until after the upcoming local body polls, as newly-elected local bodies must be sworn in before December 21.
The State Election Commission (SEC) has already announced its own revision of the voters' list in and published the schedule for the selection of reserved wards ahead of the local elections.
The SIR is just "another way of implementing the National Register of Citizens (NRC)"— asserts the resolution published on the assembly website.
The country previously saw massive protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act and the proposed National Register of Indian Citizens. The Citizenship Act, 1955, contains provisions allowing the government to register all Indian citizens, issue identity cards, and prepare a register of Indian citizens. Following the public outcry, manifesto of the Bharatiya Janata Party’s 2024 election notably dropped the preparation of the NRC.
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