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New Delhi/Malappuram, Nov 17 (IANS) The Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) has moved the Supreme Court seeking an immediate stay on the ongoing Special Interim Revision (SIR) of voter lists in Kerala, arguing that the exercise cannot legally or practically run parallel to the active election process.
The party argues that with the State Election Commission already notifying local body elections – which are scheduled in two phases on December 9 and 11 – continuation of the SIR will create administrative conflicts, confuse voters and burden area-level officials.
In its petition, IUML submitted that carrying out statewide revision of voter lists during elections violates established electoral conventions and jeopardizes the stability of the election process.
It argued that the two parallel processes – one by the State Election Commission for local elections and the other by the Election Commission of India for SIR – would inevitably clash at the operational level, especially at the level of Booth Level Officers (BLOs), who are entrusted with the duties for both the exercises.
The petition also mentioned the tragic incident involving the death of a booth level officer in Kannur on Sunday.
It was alleged that the officer died by suicide due to excessive work pressure associated with the SIR process, a development that has sparked widespread concern among employee unions and political parties.
Last week, the state government had approached the Kerala High Court seeking postponement of the SIR till the local body elections. The high court declined to intervene and advised the state to approach the Supreme Court, noting that similar cases were already before the apex court.
Meanwhile, both the CPI(M) and the Congress have announced that they will also approach the Supreme Court with similar demands, indicating the emergence of a broad political consensus in the state against holding SIR during the active election cycle.
The issue is now up for urgent consideration by the apex court. However, the state unit of BJP has decided to stay away from the issue.
–IANS
SG/SKP