On Monday, the Kerala Legislative Assembly unanimously adopted a resolution opposing the stringent review of the voter list. According to the Press Trust of India (PTI), the opposition coalition led by Congress, which previously voiced strong objections to the Systematic Identification of Residents (SIR), supported the proposal put forth by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan in the assembly.
In the resolution, Vijayan expressed concerns regarding the Election Commission’s steps to implement the SIR, questioning the underlying motives behind these actions. He interpreted the implementation of the SIR by the Election Commission as a covert attempt to operationalize the National Register of Citizens (NRC).
The Chief Minister accused the Election Commission of arbitrarily excluding people from voter lists based on the SIR’s implementation in Bihar, raising concerns that a similar pattern might be occurring nationwide. He highlighted that the proposal also questions efforts to implement SIR in election-bound states like Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and West Bengal.
Vijayan asserted that such actions could not be deemed as sincere efforts. There are widespread concerns that, despite the need for long-term preparation and consultation, the Election Commission is hastily implementing the SIR, which could harm democracy.
It is notable that there was a comprehensive revision of the voter list in Kerala back in 2002. Vijayan stated that the current revisions, based on that 2002 amendment, are “unscientific.” He pointed out that the SIR stipulates that individuals born after 1987 must present proof of citizenship from their parents in order to vote, which could adversely affect adult voters in the country.
He also mentioned that individuals born after 2003 would need to submit their parents’ citizenship documents to be eligible to vote. The adopted proposal indicates that studies show such directives under the SIR could increase the risk of marginalizing underprivileged communities from the electoral lists.
The Chief Minister further noted that most individuals likely to be excluded from the lists belong to minority communities, Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, women, and economically disadvantaged families.
The assembly collectively demanded that the Election Commission refrain from actions that could violate the fundamental rights of citizens and called for a transparent process in the review of the voter list.
Original Source: https://assam.nenow.in/kerala-assembly-passes-unanimous-resolution-against-sir/
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Publish Date: 2025-09-30 14:04:00
