‘Election Commission should desist…’: Kerala Assembly unanimously passes resolution against SIR

The resolution says the Election Commission’s move has raised serious concern that the SIR is aimed at implementing the National Register of Citizens (NRC) in an indirect way.

“In what manner those who attempt to dust off the Citizenship Amendment Act will use the SIR will be a challenge faced by democracy. The Election Commission should desist from such actions that will violate fundamental rights, and the revision of the voters’ list should be conducted in a transparent manner,” says the resolution.

In Kerala, the ruling CPI(M)-led Left Democratic Front and the Opposition Congress-led United Democratic Front have come out against the move to conduct an SIR with the 2002 electoral rolls being used as the base. Both fronts fear that such an exercise would lead to massive deletion of eligible voters from the list. Hence, the resolution has been passed unanimously by the Assembly, which has no legislators from the BJP, which has welcomed the move to conduct SIR across the country, including Kerala.

The resolution says that when petitions pertaining to SIR in Bihar are pending before the Supreme Court, the motive behind the attempt to ram through the process in states like Kerala, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal, where elections are slated to be held within a year, raises doubts. Local body elections in Kerala are set to be held soon, after which Assembly election will follow. Conducting the SIR process, which demands much deliberation and long-term preparation, in such a “hasty manner” has created the fear that the process is meant to undermine the mandate, the resolution says.

From the homepage

Bar Council of India suspends lawyer for ‘throwing shoe’ at CJI Gavai: ‘Conduct inconsistent with court’s dignity’

On Ladakh after Wangchuk arrest, LG says normal, protesting groups disagree

Dalit man lynched over ‘drone chor’ rumours in UP’s Raebareli; Cong slams ‘jungle raj’ under Yogi govt