BENGALURU: Retired IAS and IFS officers, including ambassadors, special secretaries and other officials, on Saturday expressed concern over the agitation against SIR and the election process in the country.
In an open letter, 124 retired officers said, “We write because one word ‘rigged’ is now thrown at our elections without evidence and every repetition wounds the democratic trust.. We know what rigged elections look like. We served in those days, you know only from films: the katta at the booth, stolen ballot boxes and voters turned away.”
Referring to the Election Commission of India, they said, “The three commissioners weigh every question from different angles and that’s not something unforeseen. Ordering a Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls is a cleaning up operation. It sanitises voters’ lists and weeds out ineligible voters. It brings some discomfort in the process, which is part of every major initiative to improve the health of Indian democracy.”
They said, “Under the same Commission, the party ruling at the Centre lost Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Telangana, Jharkhand and Jammu and Kashmir, and in 2024, it lost its majority. The winners raised no complaint. A system cannot be honest when you win and rigged when you lose.”
The retired officials said, “SIR is not a weapon of exclusion. The draft roll is provisional, and absence from it is not deletion. No name is removed without notice and hearing. Two levels of appeal follow. Every party may post agents beside every booth level officer (BLO). The dead and the duplicate are removed and new voters added.”
They asserted that the Supreme Court has refused to halt SIR, but continues to watch every step being taken.
On May 27, the Supreme Court upheld the Commission’s authority under Article 324 and the Representation of the People Act and added safeguards for wrongly deleted voters.
