Kasaragod: Kerala Legislative Assembly Speaker Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan has said citizenship has little meaning if a person is denied the right to vote.
He was speaking to reporters in Kasaragod on Saturday against the backdrop of protests across the country over the deletion of around 13.3 crore names from draft electoral rolls.

Radhakrishnan, an eight-time MLA and the most senior member of the Kerala Legislative Assembly, said he was reluctant to comment on the controversy in his capacity as Speaker. “This is somewhat outside my orbit. Even so, as a citizen, I have a right to express an opinion on it,” he said.

Radhakrishnan said the simplest way to address the grievance would be to restore the names of eligible voters who had been left out. “If a person loses the right to vote and then says he is a citizen, what meaning does that have? The first element of Indian citizenship is having one's name on the electoral roll.”

“The issue being raised now is that names are missing from the electoral roll. Can't a decision be taken to ensure that the names are included? Wouldn't that bring the issue to an end?” the Kerala Speaker said.

He said those protesting against the Election Commission naturally had a reason for doing so and that the reason should be addressed. “If that reason were resolved, there would be no problem. They are demanding that the reason be addressed," he said.

After news media exposed multiple irregularities in the SIR process in several states, triggering protests, the Election Commission has ordered special enrolment drives in 20 States and Union Territories where the SIR has been completed.