By P. Sreekumaran
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: With the Election Commission of India (ECI) and political parties except the BJP hardening their respective positions over the Special Intensive Revision(SIR) of the electoral rolls in Kerala, the stage is set for a protracted political-legal battle over the issue.
What has driven the parties to seek legal redress is the refusal of the Chief Electoral Officer (Kerala) Rathan U Kelkar to change the schedule of SIR in the State. Kelkar told a weekly review meeting on the SIR in Thiruvananthapuram that the schedule will remain unchanged. The parties with the exception of the BJP had sought a halt to the SIR till the local bodies elections are over. They also wanted the publication date of the draft SIR rolls postponed from December 9 as it coincides with the Phase I local bodies elections.
When Kelkar remained adamant on his stand, senior CPI(M) leader who was present at the meeting told him that the party would not cooperate with him. Talking to newspersons later, Jayarajan said that the SIR was timed to upset the local body elections where the CPI(M)-led Left Democratic Front (LDF) was poised for a big victory. Political parties wanted the SIR to be put off until after December 11 or December 13, the respective dates of the second and final phase of the local body polls and vote counting day. Another demand was that the house-to-house enumeration phase be extended from December 4 to December 30 in Kerala so that the various parties in the State can devote their attention fully to the SIR once the elections are over.
Jayarajan strongly criticised the statistics put out by the CEO’s office that 85 per cent of enumeration forms have been distributed in the State. It was easy to distribute the forms. But it is humanly impossible to get them filled up and returned within the present deadline.
Identifying himself with the sentiments expressed by Jayarajan, M. K. Rahman of the Congress said the BLOs were overburdened with work related to the SIR and local body elections. Rahman asked Kelkar to look into reports that BLOs in some areas were instructed to report distribution of the forms even if they had not done so! Rahman also suggested that the CEO’s office hold special drives at polling stations to ensure 100 per cent enumeration.
The CPI, Kerala Congress(M), Kerala Congress and RSP also demanded that the SIR be postponed until after the local body polls. Operational overlap with the local body polls , they contended, had affected the distribution of the enumeration forms.
While the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) already has moved the apex court, the CPI(M), the Congress and the LDF Government would move the Supreme Court separately to argue their case that the SIR fast-tracking in Kerala was impractical and burdensome on voters and officials, given the limited time before the two-phased polls on December 9 and December 11.
CPI(M) state secretary M. V. Govindan, who attended the all-party meet held on Saturday that even the BJP had agreed in principle that expediting the SIR during the election season was unfeasible and could lead to disenfranchisement of voters and cause great anxiety in the general electorate. However, the BJP refused to participate in the multi-party effort to seek legal recourse against the EC decision in the apex court.
Govindan also said that the Government had moved the Kerala High Court for deferring the SIR till the conclusion of the local bodies polls. The HC, however, upheld the EC counsel’s submission that the Supreme Court was the constitutional forum to arbitrate on SIR. The HC order paved the way for the LDF Government to approach the Supreme Court.
In a significant move, the all-party meeting had decided to cooperate politically at the ward level to ensure that the SIR did not disenfranchise any voter. Govindan also ridiculed the EC’s claim that it had distributed enumeration forms to 85 per cent of the voters. It was a tall claim, Govindan said, adding that lakhs of voters are yet to get the forms. This has created unease among the people, he pointed out.
Meanwhile, the booth Level Officers (BLOs) under the banner of Left and Congress-led service organisations in Kerala staged on Monday a strong statewide protest over the death of Kannur BLO Aneesh George . Their demand : the EC postpone the SIR until after the local body elections in the State. They boycotted all SIR-related work on the day.
At a press conference ahead of the protest, the joint council of State Service organisations lambasted the EC decision to go ahead with the SIR in Kerala ignoring the demands for its postponement. The leaders accused the Kannur Collector and the CEO of “parading misleading information” about the death of Aneesh and the data on the distribution of enumeration forms. They challenged the claim of CEO(Kerala) Kelkar that 94. 5 per cent of the forms have been distributed. The BLOs were being forced to upload false data stating that they have distributed the forms. Joint council leaders refuted the Collector’s claim that Aneesh had only 50 more forms left to distribute.
The BLOs made it clear that they were not seeking a stop to the conduct of the SIR. All that they are asking for is to give more time for the BLOs. It is humanly impossible for the BLOs to visit houses and distribute the forms within the time frame set by the EC. They are double burdened with the duty related to the SIR and the local body elections, they added. (IPA Service)
