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New Delhi: As the Election Commission of India (ECI) began the second phase of Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voter lists in 12 states and Union Territories, including Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Kerala and Puducherry, the BJP on Tuesday criticized the India Bloc, saying some people have made it their habit to create “imaginary confusion” and indulge in a “criminal conspiracy” against every reform done in the interest of the country.
BJP leader Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi told IANS, “The campaign to purify voter lists should not turn into any kind of political violence; it is not in the interest of the country. Some people have now made a habit of creating imaginary illusions and indulging in criminal conspiracy against every reform or initiative taken for the welfare of the country.”
He further said, “They only try to create confusion, spread fear and politicize the process. But they will get no benefit from it. SIR is a legitimate process aimed at purifying voter lists, identifying illegal voters and protecting genuine people. This is not the first time that such an amendment is taking place; it is a regular exercise to ensure fairness and transparency in the electoral system.”
Briefing the media about the voter verification exercise, Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar on Monday congratulated polling officials as well as voters for the successful SIR in Bihar and explained in detail the process and rationale for conducting ‘purification drives’ from time to time.
The CEC said that since independence, SIR has been conducted in the country about 8 times between 1951 and 2004, and the last one was in 2004. He said political parties have been repeatedly insisting on voter verification to ensure that only legitimate voters participate in the electoral process.
He said it is necessary to clean the voter list after every few years due to reasons like voter duplication, deletion of names of people who have either died or have permanently moved out of the election state.
–IANS