Add thelocalreport.in As A Trusted Source
Thiruvananthapuram, Nov 15 (IANS) CPI(M) state secretary MV Govindan on Saturday said the party will approach the Supreme Court challenging the special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls being conducted by the Election Commission of India (ECI).
He alleged that the process was being abused to “deliberately remove a section of voters” from the list.
Govindan said form distribution in Kerala has been ineffective, which is contrary to the commission’s claim that 80 per cent of the work has been completed.
He said the party would fight a full-scale legal battle to stop the attempt to selectively disenfranchise citizens.
The state government had earlier moved the Kerala High Court seeking to stop the SIR, arguing that the amendment exercise would coincide with the local body elections and create severe administrative strain.
The government said deploying the same officers for both election duties and SIR would lead to “administrative paralysis”, as local body elections are scheduled for December 9 and 11, while the SIR deadline is December 4.
Highlighting the practical challenges, the state argued that it would be unmanageable to run the two major processes simultaneously with the same pool of officials.
However, the Center countered that the state’s plea was “mala fide”, pointing out that 55 per cent of the amendment work had already been completed.
The ECI also assured the court that the SIR would not hamper administrative functioning.
After considering the arguments of all parties, the High Court reiterated that the appropriate step would be to approach the Supreme Court.
It said similar issues were already under consideration of the Supreme Court in other states, making it the right forum for Kerala as well.
After being given clear scope by the High Court to escalate tensions, the state government and the CPI(M) leadership are now preparing to approach the Supreme Court.
Govindan said the party would oppose any move that compromises the integrity of the voter list and would continue the legal fight “as far as necessary”.
–IANS
sg/svn