Former Delhi Chief Minister and Aam Aadmi Party national convenor Arvind Kejriwal has raised questions on the process of the Election Commission regarding the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the voter list. This statement comes at a time when Kejriwal and four other members of his family have been issued notices under the ongoing SIR process in Delhi. According to election officials, as the records of these voters do not match with the previous SIR data, they have been placed in the 'Unmapped with Last SIR' category.
Kejriwal's 3 main demands
On the basis of recent reports, Kejriwal made strong allegations against SIR, calling it the 'biggest scandal' of independent India. This is his political charge. He placed 3 major demands on this issue. Kejriwal has demanded that the existing SIR process be canceled and the three-year old voter list be restored. In the second demand, he has demanded the arrest of the then Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and a treason case against him. Under the third demand, Kejriwal said that elections should be held again in the states where elections have been held. His statement mentioned Delhi, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra and West Bengal.
Report of objections of two election commissioners on SIR
According to a report, the implementation of Special Intensive Review (SIR) across the country was being monitored under the supervision of the three Election Commissioners. The report claimed that Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi filed objections on official records at least 14 times in the last 10 months. Of these, it is said that 4 objections were filed on the same day. These objections included issues such as voter registration, deletion and restoration of names, appeals against decisions related to voters during SIR, and monitoring and security of voter list data. Both the commissioners also raised questions over some decisions and orders being taken without their knowledge or approval.
Opposition also raised questions
Opposition parties have criticized the Election Commission's process regarding SIR. It has been alleged by the opposition that some sections of voters can be influenced through this process. However, these are political allegations and cannot be treated as independently established facts.
What did the Election Commission say?
At the same time, while giving clarification on the report of internal differences, the sources of the Election Commission said that the filing of different opinions or objections on any issue by the commissioners is a different thing from the final decision of the Commission. According to the Commission, all final decisions including SIR have been taken unanimously with the approval of the three commissioners. According to the Election Commission, Sandhu and Joshi had raised some issues related to deletion of names and voter data in different states, but these objections should not be seen as formal disagreement on the final decisions of the Commission.
All decisions were taken unanimously: Election Commission
According to officials, Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had expressed their concerns over some decisions related to deletion of names and management of voter database while updating and correcting the voter list in various states. However, Election Commission sources clarified that all the decisions of the Commission, including the Special Intensive Review (SIR), have been taken unanimously. These include the approval of both the Election Commissioners along with the Chief Election Commissioner. Officials said that the law governing the functioning of the Election Commission and a decision of the Supreme Court also emphasize that as far as possible, the Commission's decisions should be taken unanimously. If there is no consensus on any issue then under the rules the majority vote prevails.
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