8 months ago
3
The Chief Electoral Officer (Kerala) Rathan U. Kelkar has recommended to the Election Commission of India (EC) that the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral rolls successful Kerala beryllium enactment disconnected until aft the 2025 section assemblage elections.
Mr. Kelkar’s recommendation, made connected Sunday, comes connected the heels of governmental parties, including the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and the Congress, calling for the postponement of the SIR astatine a gathering of recognised governmental parties held connected Saturday.
Mr. Kelkar said that the officials overseeing SIR would besides beryllium the returning officers for the section assemblage polls. “So doing some the exercises would beryllium a hard task,” helium said connected Monday. The CEO’s bureau calculates that the wide elections to the section bodies successful Kerala would beryllium implicit by the 3rd week of December, aft which the SIR tin beryllium taken up.
The State Election Commission, which is complaint of the section assemblage elections, is yet to denote the schedule.
Although Kerala volition statesman preparing for the State Assembly elections, apt successful May 2026, erstwhile the section assemblage polls are over, Mr. Kelkar said the SIR would instrumentality lone 3 months to complete, going by the acquisition successful Bihar. Mr. Kelkar has made his proposal to the ECI erstwhile the announcement of the SIR docket was expected wrong the adjacent fewer days.
The CEO’s bureau had kicked disconnected the preparatory works for the workout successful Kerala soon aft the motorboat of the Bihar SIR. A fig of district-level meetings, convened by the Collectors, had besides been organised successful summation to the State-level consultation Mr. Kelkar held with the governmental parties.
On their part, governmental parties had expressed superior interest implicit the timing of the SIR and the determination to usage the 2002 SIR electoral rolls arsenic the basal document. Majority of the recognised governmental parties that attended Saturday’s gathering had stated that the wide sentiment was against holding the SIR successful Kerala. They besides urged the ECI to postpone the workout until aft the section assemblage elections and see the ration paper connected the database of valid recognition documents.
Drawing attraction to the monolithic outcry sparked by the SIR successful Bihar, M.V. Jayarajan of the CPI(M) had told the gathering that a “Bihar Model” SIR volition ne'er beryllium accepted successful Kerala. Speaking for the Congress, P.C. Vishnunadh, MLA, said it would beryllium “impractical” to clasp the SIR erstwhile Kerala was astir to beryllium successful the heavy of the section assemblage elections.
