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A week ahead of extended SIR deadline, political parties scramble to find missing voters in Uttar Pradesh
The extended enumeration phase will conclude on December 26 and the draft electoral rolls will be published on December 31
With just a week to go for the conclusion of the enumeration phase of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls on December 26, political parties – the BJP, Samajwadi Party, Bahujan Samaj Party and the Congress – have mobilised their booth level agents (BLAs) and party workers in Uttar Pradesh for inclusion of missing voters in electoral rolls.
At stake are the 2.96 crore (29.6 million) uncollectible voters whose names may get excised from the rolls after the SIR process, causing the parties to fear that their voters’ names might be deleted and adversely affect their 2027 assembly election prospects.
According to the revised dates issued by the Election Commission, the enumeration phase will conclude on December 26. The draft electoral rolls will be published on December 31. The claims and objections period will be from December 31 to January 30.
Uttar Pradesh chief electoral officer Navdeep Rinwa said the district election officers have been directed to verify the deceased, shifted and absent voters during the extended period of SIR process.
The BLOs should take the help of BLAs and try their best to identify the missing voters, he added.
Chief minister Yogi Adityanath on Friday clarified that the state legislature’s winter session (December 19-24) is short because a majority of the members are busy with SIR work and want to utilise the extension granted by the EC.
Earlier, on December 14, Adityanath said around 4 crore (40 millions) were missing from the electoral rolls and 85% to 90% of these voters, he stressed, are “ours”.
BJP CONVENES MEETING OF MPs, MLAs ON SUNDAY
The BJP has called an organisational meeting of all its MPs and MLA from Uttar Pradesh on Sunday in the state capital to discuss various issues, including incomplete SIR forms. The chief minister will also be present in the meeting at Indira Gandhi Pratishthan.
According to BJP sources, the main objective of the meeting is to discuss the issue of pending SIR forms. The BJP’s state organisational secretary Dharampal Singh has taken up the issue with both the state and central leadership of the party.
Despite the state leadership’s directives to party leaders and workers, there is a perception that BJP workers at the booth level have not taken the issue in the right earnest.
SAMAJWADI PARTY RELYING ON PDA PRAHARIS
The Samajwadi Party, the main opposition party in the state, is relying heavily on its SIR PDA Praharis or booth level agents tasked with ensuring that all forms are filled timely and no legitimate voter is left out.
SP national president Akhilesh Yadav is monitoring the situation himself.
Yadav had asked the PDA Praharis to protest wherever needed and to highlight any discrepancies they come across.
SP national general secretary and former minister Rajendra Chaudhary said, “It is the responsibility of the Election Commission to ensure that no vote is deleted unnecessarily. As now only a few days are left for SIR, our PDA Praharis are working on ground and ensuring that no legitimate vote is deleted. Our national president Akhilesh Yadav is monitoring the exercise himself and keeping a watch on it.”
Yadav has lauded PDA Praharis for their discipline, dedication, and peaceful manner in which they worked on ground.
PDA Praharis collect information, point out any anomaly and inform their district presidents who, in turn, apprise the SP headquarters where a team compiles the data before sending it to SP state president Shyam Lal Pal. These compiled complaints are then, in turn, sent to the Election Commission on a daily basis.
“We are documenting every anomaly and sending it to the Election Commission, now it’s their responsibility to act on it and rectify it,” Chaudhary added.
MAYAWATI DIRECTS BSP WORKERS TO ACCORD TOP PRIORITY TO SIR
Bahujan Samaj Party national president Mayawati directed all state units and party workers to focus on SIR and postpone the previously issued guidelines regarding party organizational activities for a few days.
Addressing the party’s all India meeting on Friday, the BSP chief said, “The party workers should ensure that the poor, labourers, exploited, oppressed and people of Bahujan Samaj are not deprived of their valuable constitutional right. They should be enrolled in the voters list and exercise their franchise rights in the upcoming elections.”
The general public’s view is that in addition to purifying the voter list, the country’s electoral system needs to be truly independent, fair and clean, she said.
CONGRESS INTENSIFIES WORK, SEEKS TWO-MONTH EXTENSION
Uttar Pradesh Congress chief Ajay Rai said the party has intensified work on SIR by focusing on voters facing difficulties in completing formalities and demanded a two-month extension of the deadline.
“Our senior party workers and former MLAs have been assigned districts/constituencies to focus upon SIR work. The party will ensure all those in need get our support,” Rai said.
“The government must extend the deadline keeping in view the population of Uttar Pradesh. The present season too is not favourable for BLOs due to fog and cold winds. All this needs attention and extension of the deadline.”
