AICC general secretary Venugopal questions Kerala CM’s 'silence' on EC’s Special Intensive Revision

AICC general secretary Venugopal questions Kerala CM’s 'silence' on EC’s Special Intensive Revision

AICC General Secretary K C Venugopal on Friday questioned Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s "silence" on the Election Commission’s move to implement the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the voter list in the state.

Speaking to reporters, Venugopal noted that while all chief ministers of the INDIA bloc have opposed the SIR, Vijayan is yet to react to it.

“M K Stalin, Mamata Banerjee and Hemant Soren, all INDIA bloc chief ministers, have spoken against SIR. Even the CPI(M) has spoken against it. But the Kerala CM is yet to say something,” he said.

Earlier this month, the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) criticised the Election Commission’s decision, calling SIR “impractical” at this stage, with local body polls approaching.

The date for the Local Self Government Department (LSGD) elections is yet to be announced.

The KPCC pointed out that the comprehensive voter list revision in Kerala is being carried out based on the 2002 voter list, and that 53.25 lakh names were excluded from the 2025 list.

The criticism followed remarks by Leader of Opposition V D Satheesan, who alleged that SIR was a “BJP tactic” to disrupt free and fair elections, and said the Congress-led UDF would strongly oppose it.

In response, Kerala Chief Electoral Officer Rathan U Kelkar urged the Election Commission to postpone the SIR, citing the impending local body polls.