The Biju Janata Dal (BJD) and the Congress in Odisha have demanded "absolute transparency" in the special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. This comprehensive exercise, the first in the state in over 20 years, is scheduled to begin next month. Both parties have also threatened to launch protests if a "Bihar-like exercise" is conducted in Odisha.
The demand comes after the first phase of the SIR in Bihar resulted in more than 6.5 million names being left out of the draft electoral rolls. This reduced the total number of voters from around 7.9 crore to 7.24 crore.
Odisha’s Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), RS Gopalan, has confirmed that all political parties in the state have been informed about the SIR and that preparations are underway for the exercise to begin in September. As part of the process, the number of polling booths will be increased from 38,000 to 45,000 to improve accessibility and convenience for voters. Gopalan noted that the last such intensive revision was conducted in Odisha in 2002.
Both the BJD and the Congress have expressed doubts about the transparency of the upcoming revision. BJD spokesperson Lenin Mohanty said his party has no objection to a fair SIR but warned that a "Bihar-like exercise would force all to think differently."
Also read: Odisha to begin SIR from next month: State’s CEO R Sant Gopalan
He also wondered why a particular political party was so excited about the SIR. He also said that the decision on how to proceed would ultimately be made by their leader, Naveen Patnaik. Mohanty stressed that the fundamental goal is to ensure all genuine voters can exercise their democratic right.
BJD MLA PK Deb also weighed in, stating that the party would not remain silent if there was an attempt to "delete voters from the list in the garb of the SIR," as he alleged had happened in Bihar. He also questioned why the SIR was delayed for so many years, even though there is a provision to conduct the exercise every 10 years.
Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC) president Bhakta Charan Das said the party suspected that the BJP was "planning to carry out 'vote theft' in Odisha by using the SIR exercise".
"The government's intention has been exposed after the Supreme Court directed the Election Commission to provide details of voters excluded during the SIR in Bihar and forced it to publish the list," the Congress leader said.
The Election Commission (EC) on Monday came out with the names of 65 lakh people who were removed from the draft electoral rolls published as part of the SIR in Bihar.
“The Congress wants eligible voters to be included on the lists and ineligible ones to be excluded. But the working style and steps of the Election Commission, which has become a spokesperson of the Bharatiya Janata Party, are not satisfactory,” Das alleged.
He warned that there would be a statewide movement if voter lists in Odisha were "tampered".
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