Party MP Sasikanth Senthil questions what he describes as repeated ‘U-turns’ by the ECI on the use of its de-duplication software
NEW DELHI — The Congress has demanded transparency and clear answers from the Election Commission of India (ECI) on the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in 12 states, alleging arbitrary procedures and targeted deletion of voters, particularly in West Bengal and Tamil Nadu.
Addressing a press conference at the AICC headquarters here on Tuesday, Congress MP Sasikanth Senthil questioned what he described as repeated “U-turns” by the ECI on the use of its de-duplication software. He said the software was used till 2023 but dropped during the Bihar SIR on the grounds that it was not foolproof, only to be reintroduced in the current SIR exercise across 12 states without any public explanation.
Senthil alleged that the SIR was being conducted in a “hit-and-trial” manner, with Booth Level Officers (BLOs) neither given clear instructions nor adequate training. As a result, he said, BLOs were left to their own discretion on how to deal with alleged duplicate voters, raising serious concerns about arbitrariness and bias.
The Congress MP demanded that the ECI immediately issue transparent and uniform guidelines on the SIR process, especially on the criteria and procedures for deleting names from electoral rolls. The absence of clarity, he said, was fuelling widespread suspicion and eroding public trust in the electoral process.
He also flagged what he termed “logical discrepancies” that BLOs have been asked to identify, such as unusual age gaps between parents and children. Senthil said BLOs had been left “at sea” on how to handle cases where the age difference was more than 40 years or less than 18 years, further exposing the lack of procedural clarity.
Accusing the ECI of acting arbitrarily, Senthil warned that the poor and marginalised sections were likely to be the worst affected by the exercise. He questioned the urgency behind rushing through a process that is traditionally time-consuming and has historically taken years to complete.
Citing investigative reports, Senthil said the Bihar SIR was conducted without the mandatory de-duplication process, resulting in about 14.5 lakh duplicate voters remaining on the rolls. He noted that while the ECI’s 2023 manual made 100 per cent de-duplication compulsory, the process was abandoned in Bihar and later reintroduced during the second phase of SIR in 12 states, again without any official clarification.
Referring to emerging data from the ongoing revision, Senthil said over 32 lakh voters in West Bengal had been marked as “unmapped”, while so-called logical discrepancies affected more than 1.7 crore entries. In Tamil Nadu, he alleged that around 97 lakh names had been deleted from the electoral rolls, including nearly six lakh voters from his own constituency.
The Congress demanded that the Election Commission halt arbitrary deletions and ensure that the SIR process is conducted in a transparent, accountable and non-discriminatory manner to safeguard the integrity of India’s electoral democracy.
