The Election Commission’s launch of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls is on paper a much-needed housekeeping exercise, an attempt to cleanse India’s voter lists of ineligible, duplicate, or deceased names after more than two decades. By seeking verification through documents like ration cards, birth certificates, passports, and even Aadhaar (optionally), the Commission aims to bolster the integrity of the electoral process. The initiative’s second phase now spans 12 states, including politically sensitive ones such as West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, and Kerala, states heading toward crucial assembly elections in 2026.

The purpose, as the EC insists, is inclusion, not exclusion. Yet, in a country where identity and politics intersect so sharply, even a bureaucratic exercise like SIR can acquire political overtones.

At one level, the SIR deserves applause. It promises to tighten the screws on bogus voting and the persistent problem of “ghuspetiyas”, illegal immigrants, particularly from Bangladesh — a phrase that has long echoed through India’s political lexicon. Ensuring clean rolls is, after all, a constitutional necessity for free and fair elections. The Commission, empowered under Article 324, holds full authority to carry out such revisions whenever required. What remains unresolved, however, is the legal question of whether it can determine citizenship,  a matter still sub judice before the Supreme Court.

But beyond the constitutional clarity lies the political haze. For the BJP, SIR dovetails neatly with its broader narrative of curbing demographic shifts through unchecked immigration, especially in border states like West Bengal and Assam. The move reinforces its rhetoric of protecting indigenous populations, potentially consolidating Hindu votes in regions where the idea of infiltration resonates deeply.

For the opposition, however, the timing of SIR’s rollout just ahead of polls in non-BJP strongholds appears far from neutral. The exercise risks being viewed as selective targeting........

© ABP Live