SIR Will Begin in Telangana Soon, Says CEC

Hyderabad: Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar on Sunday said the special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls would soon begin in Telangana. The state, he said, would enter a new era of electoral administration once the voter roll purification exercise was completed.

Interacting with booth level officers (BLOs) at the Ravindra Bharathi on Sunday, CEC Kumar said they formed the backbone of the electoral system and that the success of electoral roll purification depended on their diligence and integrity.

He noted that the global community closely watched India’s elections to understand how the world’s largest democracy functioned.

Referring to Bihar, CEC Kumar said the massive SIR exercise had been carried out flawlessly, enabling around 75 million voters to participate in the recent Assembly elections. He said the process recorded zero complaints, zero re-polling and zero recounting, and congratulated Bihar’s BLOs for setting a high national standard.

Gyanesh Kumar observed that urban voter apathy remained a key reason for lower polling percentages in cities, while rural voters had consistently shown the way by turning out enthusiastically. He reiterated that elections in India were conducted strictly in accordance with the law of the land and that all stakeholders were bound to comply with election laws.

The CEC said India had recently assumed the chairship of International IDEA, nearly three decades after becoming a member in 1995, a move he said reflected global recognition of the Election Commission of India as one of the world’s most credible and innovative election management bodies.

Highlighting the scale of India’s democratic exercise, the chief poll officer said the country has more than 90 crore electors spread across 28 states and eight Union Territories. Of which, he said a number of persons possessed double votes, and SIR would streamline the system removing fake and repeated votes.

Some disturbances took place at the premises after BLOs were not allowed inside the hall due to space crunch. A total 1,000 BLOs were invited for the programme and limited BLOs were allowed to interact with the Chief Election Commissioner.