Kerala’s political landscape heated up as Leader of Opposition V.D. Satheesan launched a scathing attack on the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process, demanding an urgent rollback of notices dispatched to around 18 lakh voters. During a media briefing in Thiruvananthapuram on Wednesday, he painted a picture of mass inconvenience, with ordinary citizens hauled into hearings over trivial voter roll errors.
Blasting the system for harassment over ‘logical inconsistencies’ stemming from name mismatches or initial variations—mostly software-induced—Satheesan insisted, ‘Technical glitches in the system aren’t the voters’ fault.’ He advocated for BLOs to visit homes for corrections rather than issuing repetitive summons through their app.
The notices, he said, must be withdrawn entirely, criticizing the Election Commission’s uneven follow-through on earlier assurances. Turning to Form 7 abuses, Satheesan alleged it’s being weaponized to purge opposition-aligned voters, especially in northern districts, and called for crackdowns on falsifiers and lax BLOs.
‘Deletions without notice are unacceptable,’ he declared, framing SIR as a de facto citizenship check that demands political maturity. Satheesan also spotlighted migrant voter hurdles, like the missing birthplace input for overseas-born citizens in Form 6A on the EC portal, impacting millions and necessitating deadline extensions.
Complaints have been forwarded to all District Collectors, and Satheesan vowed to press for high-level dialogues involving the EC and political outfits to iron out these voter list controversies before they escalate further.