SIR begins in Kerala amid opposition from parties; Governor Arlekar receives first enumeration form

Thiruvananthapuram (Kerala) [India], October 30 (ANI): Amid the opposition from major political parties, the Special Intensive Revision of the electoral roll began in Kerala on Thursday with the distribution of enumeration forms. Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar received the first form at Raj Bhavan, in the presence of the State Chief Electoral Officer Rathan U Kelkar.
National and State-level political parties, except the BJP, have expressed their opposition to the SIR when the State is the threshold of local body elections.
At Wednesday's meeting, political parties urged Chief Electoral Officer Rathan Kelkar to take up their demand once again to defer the exercise with the Election Commission. The Kerala Assembly also expressed its reservations about the conduct of SIR in the State.
Rathan U Kelkar had earlier said the purpose of the exercise is to purify the electoral rolls and that all political parties can approach him personally to submit their complaints.

"We have repeatedly told all the political parties in the previous meetings also, the intention of SIR is to ensure that all eligible electors are included in the electoral roll and no ineligible elector should be retained in the electoral roll," Kelkar told ANI on Wednesday.
"The intention of this entire exercise is to ensure a purified electoral roll...We've also told the political party that if they feel, for some reason, that some people are getting left out, they can give the list to me straight away," he said.
"I will personally see that the entire list will be examined and all eligible people will be included in the roll...People don't have to be bothered. We'll make it a very pleasant experience for everybody, and we would want the participation of the people," he added.
On Tuesday, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan criticised the Election Commission of India's (ECI) decision to implement the SIR, calling it "a direct challenge to the democratic process" and urging the poll body to withdraw from actions that "undermine its own credibility."
"The Election Commission of India's decision to implement a Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the voters list in Kerala and other states is a direct challenge to the democratic process," the Kerala CM said in a statement.
The Kerala Chief Minister highlighted that the Commission is planning to carry out the revision based on electoral rolls from 2002-2004, instead of using the updated voter lists. He stressed that, as per the Representation of the People Act, 1950 and the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960, any revision of the electoral rolls must be conducted using the current list as a base. (ANI)