CHANDIGARH: The final electoral rolls for poll-bound Punjab will be published on October 1, following the completion of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process, as mapping of 1.79 crore voters out of the 2.14 crore voters in the state has been completed.
Meanwhile, the Congress has questioned the timing of the SIR as the state is heading towards the assembly elections in less than ten months from now.
AAP also expressed concern over the autonomy and neutrality of the Election Commission of India.
Punjab Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Anindita Mitra said, "Under the Pre-SIR mapping undertaken by the Office of the Chief Electoral Officer, Punjab, mapping of 1,79,56,656 voters has already been completed out of the total 2,14,57,160 voters in the state, accounting for 83.69 per cent of the electorate.’’
She said that 89.58 per cent of the mapping has been completed in rural areas of Punjab, while 73 per cent of the mapping work has been completed in urban areas.
Mitra added that the booth-level officers (BLOs) will conduct house-to-house visits from June 25 to July 24, and a meeting with representatives of all political parties has been called on Friday to address and clarify any doubts regarding the SIR process.
"We are requesting all parties to have their booth-level agents ready to assist in claims and objections,” she said.
Mitra said, "For this extensive exercise, the entire election machinery has been mobilised, including 24,453 BLOs, 2,476 Supervisors, 117 Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) and 234 Assistant Electoral Registration Officers (AEROs)", informed the Chief Electoral Officer, adding that on average, each BLO has been assigned only around 300 households and over 1,200 voters about the SIR exercise.
She categorically said that the primary objective of the exercise is to ensure inclusion of every eligible citizen in the electoral rolls while removing ineligible persons from the list.
"Possessing duplicate voter registrations is an offence under the Constitution of India and is punishable with imprisonment of up to one year", Mitra said and added all voters in the state will be required to submit forms under the SIR exercise.
She said that claims and objections regarding the electoral rolls may be submitted from July 31 to August 30, while disposal of claims and objections will continue from July 31 to September 28.
The Chief Electoral Officer informed that the final publication of electoral rolls will take place on October 1.
Mitra further informed that BLOs will visit households door-to-door for filling in forms related to the Special Intensive Revision and will make up to three visits to contact voters for the retrieval of forms.
She clarified that during the SIR process, the Aadhaar Card will be accepted only as a source of identification and not as proof of citizenship.
Punjab Congress president Amarinder Singh Raja Warring questioned the timing of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral rolls.
"Bihar and West Bengal elections have proved it beyond any doubt that the Bharatiya Janata Party government at the centre, with the help of a compliant Election Commission of India, can swing the electoral outcome in its favour with the fraudulent exercise of Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls”, he observed.
While noting that Punjab is headed for elections, within less than ten months or maybe earlier. “What is the urgency to hold this exercise here?” he asked.
He asked why the SIR exercise was not carried out in Punjab along with the states like Uttar Pradesh and Goa (held six months ago), as these two states are also scheduled to go for elections at the same time as Punjab.
He pointed out, in the case of Bengal, 27 lakh genuine voters were disenfranchised.
“Since there was not enough time, their appeals for inclusion in the voter list were not settled before the elections. They lost the right to vote”, he said, while cautioning against repeating the same process here.
The Election Commission of India wants to repeat the same exercise in Punjab. We are confident that we will defeat their design”, he said, adding that the party has asked its rank and file to ensure that not a single genuine voter is denied the right to vote with this fraudulent exercise of SIR.
Expressing concern over the autonomy and neutrality of the Election Commission of India (ECI), senior Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leaders and Punjab Ministers Aman Arora and Harpal Singh Cheema said that constitutional institutions in the country are rapidly losing their impartial character under BJP rule and are increasingly being misused to influence electoral outcomes in favour of the ruling party at the Centre.
AAP Punjab State President Aman Arora said that the functioning of the Election Commission has raised serious questions across the country, citing examples from recent elections.
“We saw it in the Delhi Assembly elections, where thousands of BJP-favoured votes were manufactured, and AAP’s genuine votes were cut,” he stated.
Referring to developments in West Bengal, Arora said, “The whole world witnessed how first 91 lakh voters were deleted from the rolls, and later 60 lakh were wrongly declared dead. Even after the elections, according to the TMC, there were 31 constituencies where the BJP’s victory margin was less than the number of votes deleted.”
Arora asserted that any electoral exercise conducted with a prejudiced mindset and wrong intent loses its democratic meaning.
“No difficulty or hurdle can stop us from working for Punjab. But the process must be clean, transparent and impartial. We have no difficulties with SIR. We have been working for the welfare of the people. Elections must be held in a clean, honest and transparent manner. The loot of people’s votes must not happen through SIR or in the name of any authority,” added Aman Arora.
Meanwhile, Punjab Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema stated that the BJP is using the Election Commission as a political weapon in states where it cannot secure victory on its own strength.
He said the BJP first pushes for exercises like SIR under the pretext of voter list purification and later uses them to delete voters on a large scale for electoral benefit.
Cheema said the people of Punjab would unite to expose the BJP’s anti-Punjab mindset and resist every attempt to weaken the state politically and constitutionally.
“The BJP wants to capture power in Punjab by manipulating voter lists and simultaneously weakening Punjab’s rights and institutions. The BJP wants to use the Election Commission and the SIR exercises to delete voters and grab power in Punjab,’’ he said.
