Bhupender Yadav: No Voter Name Deleted Without Opportunity to Respond
Union Minister Bhupender Yadav clarifies the process of Special Intensive Revision, denying allegations of voter list manipulation.
Union Cabinet Minister Bhupender Yadav has strongly defended the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, asserting that no one's name can be removed from the voter list without being given a fair opportunity to respond. This comes amidst allegations from the Opposition, particularly the Congress party, regarding the potential for voter list manipulation.
The SIR Process: Not a New Phenomenon
Speaking in an interview with ANI, Minister Yadav highlighted that the current Special Intensive Revision is not a new exercise. He accused the Congress party of questioning constitutional institutions whenever they suffer electoral defeats. He clarified that since 1950, there have been eight such revisions, and the current one is the ninth. He pointed out that the eighth SIR was initiated by the Government of India but was completed under a Congress-led administration.
Key Roles in Verification
To explain the transparency of the process, the Union Minister detailed the role of various officials and and representatives. He noted that in states like Bihar, there are two primary figures at the polling booth level: the Booth Level Agent (BLA), who represents the political parties, party representatives are involved in the process to ensure fairness.
The process involves the Booth Level Officer (BLO), who is a government official responsible for distributing forms to households. With the integration of technology, both the BLA and BLO can now upload data to the Election Commission's ECINet platform. This ensures that a political party's BLA can check the missing names and ensure they include them. Furthermore, the Aadhaar technology is used to facilitate this process via ECINet.
Understanding the Revisions: Summary vs. Fresh Revision
Union Minister Bhupender Yadav explained that the Representation of the People Act and the Election Commission's rules provide for two distinct types of electoral roll revisions:
- Summary Revision: This occurs in the short term to account for deaths, migration, and duplication of names.
- Special Intensive Revision (SIR): This is a long-term cycle of fresh revision, which has happened eight times previously.
The Union Minister further explained that that draft electoral rolls are shared digitally, and anyone whose name is missing can submit Form 6 along with a declaration to be notified of their inclusion.
Criticism of the Opposition
Minister Yadav did not hold back in his criticism of the Congress party, stating that their politics is "problem-free politics" because they have fallen after their defeats. He claimed that the Congress party attacks institutions like the Supreme Court and the Election Commission of India, even though they are part of the process. Their conduct, he says, and that the main issue of Indian politics today is governance, a topic they Congress does not debate in Parliament, instead questioning the very nature of the Parliament itself.
"The ERO cannot delete anyone's name without giving them an opportunity," the Union Minister emphasized.