SIR deadline extended by a week, big relief for BLOs

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Amidst strong allegations that Booth Level Officers (BLOs) are under pressure from work, the Central Election Commission extended the process for Special Intensive Revision (SIR) by a week. The date for receiving applications has been extended to December 11. The earlier announced deadline was December 4.

The Election Commission's action comes at a time when the Supreme Court was set to hear Kerala's petition to extend the SIR in the context of local body elections. The court had asked the Commission to file an affidavit on Monday regarding the steps taken.

The publication of the draft list was postponed from December 9 to December 16 in Kerala. The other day, political parties criticised the insistence on publishing the draft list on December 9, when the voting will be held.

The new deadline applies to eight other states and three union territories where the SIR process is in progress. The Supreme Court is also considering petitions filed against the SIR, including by Tamil Nadu and West Bengal, in the coming days. The Central Election Commission said that forms had been distributed to 51 crore voters till Saturday, and 78.97% of them had been uploaded.

State Chief Electoral Officer Rathan U Kelkar said in a press conference that 10 lakh voters will be left out of the voter list in Kerala. This is five per cent of the total voters. Five lakh people could not be traced.

Efforts will be made to find and include those who have been left out in the extended week. Meetings of BLOs will be held on a booth basis. There are complaints that people who have received the forms in cities are delaying filing the form.

There is a period of time from December 16 to January 15 to express claims and objections. The final list will be published on February 14.