The Kerala Assembly unanimously adopted a resolution on Monday opposing the Special Investigative Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in the state, following the incorporation of a few minor amendments. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan tabled the resolution.
An amendment added references to Scheduled Tribes (ST) and Scheduled Castes (SC). Earlier, these were not mentioned in the draft published earlier on the assembly website.
Another clarified that the resolution specifically refers to the Central Election Commission, addressing concerns that the original wording could cause ambiguity.
The resolution warns that SIR often results in the exclusion of minorities, women, SCs, STs, and economically weaker sections from the voter list. It equates the exercise to an attempt at implementing the National Register of Citizens (NRC).
Although the Citizenship Act, 1955, empowers the government to maintain a register of Indian citizens, the BJP dropped its NRC proposal from the 2024 election manifesto following nationwide backlash.
Citing the example of the Bihar SIR, the resolution stated that large numbers of people were arbitrarily removed from the rolls, raising fears that a similar "politics of exclusion" could be extended across the nation. "There is a countrywide sentiment that similar methods will be implemented across states," it noted.
The Assembly also questioned the necessity and timing of conducting the SIR in Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and West Bengal, particularly as its constitutional validity remains under review by the Supreme Court.
It said that the process as hurried and "clouded by suspicion," suggesting that its underlying purpose might be to manipulate electoral outcomes.
The methodology itself came under fire, with the resolution criticising the reliance on the 2002 voter list as unscientific. The requirement that citizens born before 1987 must produce proof of their parents’ citizenship to vote was denounced as a denial of voting rights, noting that "Excluding citizens for lack of documents is a violation of constitutional rights."
Prior to the Assembly's move, Kerala's Chief Electoral Officer, Rathan U Kelkar, along with various political parties in the state, had already lodged strong reservations against the SIR. Kelkar has written to the Election Commission of India, urging them to postpone the revision until after the upcoming local body polls, which are legally required to be completed before December 21.
Also read: Kerala Assembly to pass resolution against SIR
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