Ex chief election commissioner condemns SIR voter revision

Former Chief Election Commissioner S. Y. Quraishi has launched a sharp critique of the Election Commission's ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, calling the process "unfair" and asserting it has "played havoc with democracy" by focusing on mass exclusion of voters. Quraishi, who led the commission from 2010 to 2012, made the remarks in interviews ahead of the launch of his new book.

He argued that the constitutional right to be registered as a voter is being treated as a favor granted by the commission. "The emphasis in the ongoing SIR process is on how many to exclude, as if the EC would get good marks for 'throwing out' as many as it can," Quraishi said. He contrasted this with the approach during his tenure, where officials were instructed to overlook minor clerical errors to ensure no eligible voter was excluded. He claimed the current process has led to "crores" of names being removed from the rolls.

The former commissioner specifically questioned the efficacy of the SIR exercise in Bihar, which was initiated with the stated aim of identifying illegal immigrants. He said approximately eight crore people were subjected to verification, but the...