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Burhanpur, Nov 22 (IANS) The administration in Madhya Pradesh’s Burhanpur district is working diligently to ensure timely completion of the Special Intensive Review (SIR) process. To ensure that all forms are uploaded online without any delay, SIR related work is now being carried out both during the day and late at night.
Burhanpur district SIR officer Rajesh Patidar told IANS that SIR-related work is continuously gaining momentum in the district. He said booth-level officers (BLOs) are doing door-to-door verification while office teams continue to upload filled forms till late night to keep the process on track.
Patidar said that the administration is making every possible effort to complete the SIR process in both the assembly constituencies of the district before the stipulated time. To achieve this, continuous monitoring and coordinated data entry is being done through a team-based approach. The administration hopes that with this proactive effort the work of voter list updating will be successfully completed without any delay.
The BJP has welcomed the cleanup process and called it a step towards ensuring greater transparency in the voter list.
However, this practice has been strongly opposed by many parties. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday wrote a letter to Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar objecting to the SIR. He claimed that the way the process is being imposed on election officials and citizens is “unplanned,” “chaotic” and “dangerous.” CM Banerjee is scheduled to address an anti-SIR rally in Bangaon in North 24 Parganas district on November 25.
Meanwhile, the Election Commission on November 4 launched the second phase of SIR of voter lists in nine states and three Union Territories, which will cover about 51 crore voters. Booth level officials have started distributing counting forms to voters as part of the process.
During the enumeration phase, which will continue till December 4, more than 5.3 lakh BLOs will visit households at least three times for distribution and collection of forms.
After the rally, Banerjee will take part in a protest march in Bangaon. This will be his second anti-SIR rally and protest march after the first rally held in Kolkata on November 4.
Apart from BLOs, 7.64 lakh BLAs, 10,448 Electoral Registration Officers and Assistant EROs and 321 District Election Officers appointed by political parties have been deployed to conduct the SIR exercise in a smooth, orderly and voter-friendly manner.
The 12 states and union territories where the SIR is being conducted are Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Lakshadweep, Chhattisgarh, Goa, Gujarat, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Puducherry, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal. Of these, elections are to be held in Tamil Nadu, Kerala, West Bengal and Puducherry in 2026.
The first phase of the SIR exercise was carried out in Bihar earlier this year, after which over 68 lakh names were removed from the voter list.
–IANS
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