Election Commission likely to extend SIR deadline for UP, West Bengal, other states: Reports

The prospect of further extension comes amid strong objections from several Opposition parties, who accused the poll body of enforcing "impractical" deadlines

The Election Commission (EC) is likely to extend the deadline for the ongoing special intensive revision (SIR) exercise in Uttar Pradesh and other states, according to multiple reports. The final decision on the matter could be taken today, when the Commission’s senior officials meet to evaluate the progress of the enumeration form digitisation and submission, according to an NDTV report.

The report, citing EC sources, revealed that West Bengal is among the states where the deadline could be extended. Kerala has already been granted an extension by the poll body, with the deadline now moved from December 11 to December 18 following the state’s request for more time.

The prospect of further extension comes amid strong objections from several Opposition parties, who accused the poll body of enforcing "impractical" deadlines that were putting extra burden on booth level officers (BLOs) as well as voters.

During the all-party discussion, the Congress, TMC, CPI(M) and SP alleged that the Commission ignored ground realities and moved ahead with an unreasonably rushed revision timeline.

Senior TMC leader Joyprakash Majumdar alleged that around 40 people, including BLOs, had died due to stress caused by the revision drive in West Bengal, calling the exercise “hasty” and politically motivated. In Uttar Pradesh, SP chief Akhilesh Yadav said the SIR had become a “major trouble” for voters and BLOs, insisting that verifying nearly 16 crore voters within a month was “impossible.”

On Wednesday, Uttar Pradesh chief electoral officer Navdeep Rinwa said the state requested the EC to grant two more weeks to complete the SIR of electoral rolls. In a press statement cited by PTI, Rinwa said the extension was sought so that district election officers can re-verify entries of deceased voters, those who have shifted to other locations, and voters who remain untraceable.

According to him, 99.24 per cent of enumeration forms have been digitised so far.