Kerala Parties Seek Postponement of Voter List Revision Amid Local Polls

Quick Summary

• Kerala’s Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Rathan U. Kelkar held a consultation with political parties on the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.
• Political parties, including CPI(M), Congress, IUML, and others, objected too using the 2002 SIR rolls as a base document for updating voter lists.
• Congress and other parties suggested using the 2024 Lok Sabha election voter list as the base document instead.
• Concerns were raised over timing SIR amidst upcoming 2025 local body elections and requested inclusion of ration cards as valid identification for voters.
• CPI(M)’s M.V. jayarajan criticized filling enumeration forms again despite EPICs being issued and termed such revisions ineffective in resolving issues like name addition or deletion in electoral rolls.
• BJP supported the SIR exercise but stressed proper verification to ensure all eligible voters are included based on constitutional citizenship criteria.
• Parties urged measures to include expatriate Malayali voters residing abroad in Kerala’s voting lists without being excluded.

Indian Opinion Analysis

The divergent views among Kerala’s political factions reflect concerns about inclusivity and practicality while revising electoral rolls.The preference by most major opposition groups for more recent documents highlights fears of inaccuracies when relying on data from decades-old voting registers. Additionally, timing this exercise close to local body polls could interrupt an already busy pre-poll workflow for both authorities and participants.

While BJP’s support channels attention toward stricter citizen verification norms during roll creation-essential under any revision process-such consensus misses clarity toward deadline issues logistical transparency essentials other participating entities emphasized fairnessaptcha