Special Intensive Revision impractical before local body polls: KPCC

Thiruvananthapuram: The Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) on Monday criticised the Election Commission’s plan to implement the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, calling it “impractical” as local body elections are approaching.

At a meeting chaired by KPCC president Sunny Joseph and attended by DCC presidents and senior functionaries, the party said revising the voter list alongside election preparations would create confusion and hardship. The date for the Local Self-Government Department (LSGD) polls is yet to be announced.

The KPCC alleged that the EC was hastily pushing SIR in Kerala to disrupt the current political climate, reported PTI. “It would be impractical to conduct a parallel SIR with only weeks left for the elections,” the party noted. Citing Bihar’s recent electoral roll reforms, the Congress pointed out that many voters were left out of the list without time to resubmit documents, raising fears of similar issues in Kerala. 

According to the KPCC, the revision in Kerala is being conducted using the 2002 voter list as the base, which excludes 53.25 lakh names from the 2025 rolls. Each of these individuals would need to undergo enumeration in person or online and provide supporting documents if required, creating “undue hardship”.

The party also criticised the SIR for lacking provisions to safeguard the rights of existing voters. Leader of Opposition V D Satheesan had earlier alleged that the move was a “BJP tactic” to disrupt free and fair polls, warning that even long-term voters could be excluded. Meanwhile, EC officials have said a nationwide SIR may be launched before the end of 2025, ahead of assembly elections in several states, including Kerala.