'Will announce the date after...': Election Commission on SIR in West Bengal, other states

Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar on Sunday said the Election Commission (EC) has not yet decided on the timeline for conducting a Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in West Bengal or other states, amid rising political controversy around the ongoing process in Bihar.

"The three Election Commissioners will decide when the exercise of SIR will be carried out in West Bengal or other states," Kumar said, responding to questions on whether the revision drive will expand beyond Bihar.

The EC's special roll revision in Bihar has drawn sharp criticism from Opposition parties. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi described the move as "institutionalised theft," alleging it was designed to disenfranchise the poor. 

The CEC rejected those allegations and defended the transparency and legality of the process. "When more than seven crore voters of Bihar are standing with the Election Commission, then neither can any question mark be raised on the credibility of the Election Commission nor on the credibility of the voters," he said.

He added that 1.6 lakh Booth Level Agents (BLAs) had prepared the draft list and verified it booth by booth. "Voters have submitted a total of 28,370 claims and objections," he noted. "As this draft list was being prepared in every booth, the Booth Level Agents of all political parties verified it with their signatures."

Kumar dismissed accusations of bias and asserted the Commission's neutrality in dealing with all political entities. "How can the EC discriminate among the same political parties? For the Election Commission, all are equal. The Commission will not step back from its constitutional duty," he said.

"The doors of the Election Commission are always open for everyone equally," he added, warning that verified BLO and party-level documents were being ignored or withheld at higher political levels to create confusion. 

On the allegations about voter impersonation and double voting, Kumar said there was no evidence to support the claims. "Some voters alleged double voting. When asked for proof, no answer was given. Neither the EC nor any voter is afraid of such false allegations," he said.

"When politics is being done by targeting the voters of India by keeping a gun on the shoulder of the Election Commission. We want to make it clear that the EC fearlessly stood like a rock with all voters without any discrimination," he added.

The CEC also called the publication of voter photos in the media a violation of dignity. "Should the Election Commission share the CCTV videos of any voter including their mothers, daughters-in-law, daughters?" he asked.

On the question of foreign nationals on voter rolls, he clarified: "According to the Constitution of India, only Indian citizens can contest the election of MP and MLA. If such people have filled out the enumeration form, then during the SIR process, they will have to prove their nationality. Their names will be removed after the investigation."

He also referred to a 2019 Supreme Court observation on machine-readable voter rolls, stating: "As far as the machine-readable voter list is concerned, the Supreme Court has already said in 2019 that this could be a violation of voter privacy."

The SC, while hearing petitions challenging the EC's SIR directive, earlier observed that the requirement to produce any of 11 documents to establish citizenship is "voter-friendly rather than restrictive."