HighLights
  1. The SIR process in Uttarakhand began on June 8, and the final electoral roll will be released on September 15.
  2. Congress has alleged several discrepancies in the SIR process, accusing the ECI of overlooking their complaints
  3. Congress alleged that over 8 lakh people are expected to be removed from the electoral roll in Uttarakhand due to these discrepancies.

A controversy has erupted in Uttarakhand over a complaint seeking the deletion of Piran Kaliyar Congress MLA Furkan Ahmed's name from the electoral roll. The Uttarakhand Congress has alleged that the Election Commission of India (ECI) entertained the complaint even though the person named as the complainant has denied filing it.

Uttarakhand Congress Chief Ganesh Godiyal said the complaint was submitted through Form-7, which is used to seek deletion of a name from the electoral roll. "In Uttarakhand, a proposal to delete the name of a sitting MLA from the electoral roll is being submitted by an unknown individual, and the EC is entertaining it," Godiyal said.

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Godiyal said that when the MLA’s team contacted the person identified as the complainant, Mohammad Furkan, he denied filing any such complaint. "When our team actually reached out to this alleged complainant, he stated that he had never filed any such complaint. To absolve himself of this false allegation, he even executed an affidavit declaring that he had made no complaint and that these were fabricated claims," Godiyal added.

The Uttarakhand Congress has targeted the ruling BJP over the controversy and alleged that the state government is misusing its influence to manipulate the electoral rolls. Godiyal asserted that the ruling party is using state machinery to engage in actions that pose a serious threat to democratic and constitutional norms.

The controversy comes amid the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in several states, including Uttarakhand. Congress leaders on Thursday reached the ECI office in Delhi to submit a memorandum over alleged irregularities in the SIR process in Uttarakhand. The party alleged that ECI officials had locked themselves inside the office and were not allowing its leaders to submit their complaints.

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Congress leader Kumari Selja, who reached the ECI office along with other party leaders, alleged that they had been seeking an appointment with EC officials for the last eight days but had received no response.

The Congress leaders claimed that over 8 lakh people are on the verge of having their names removed from the electoral rolls due to discrepancies in the SIR process. Calling the exercise a "fraud", Selja alleged that young people in Uttarakhand had been marked as deceased and notices issued by the SEC had not reached the concerned persons.

"We have just come to the Election Commission. We wanted to submit a memorandum regarding the massive irregularities taking place in Uttarakhand under the guise of SIR, where the names of so many eligible voters are being struck off the electoral rolls. People are arbitrarily declared absent from their place of residence, and young individuals are falsely marked as deceased," Selja said.

"Notices are ostensibly issued but never actually reach the recipients, and no action is being taken against those responsible for these malpractices. The way this government is functioning is appalling. What is truly disheartening is that the EC is failing to assert its authority and stand above the government's flawed policies. This government has no faith in the Constitution or constitutional institutions," she added.

Selja further alleged that only after continuous sloganeering and calls to the EC did one of the officials contact them and allow only seven people inside. "Then, one of their officers came out; they were speaking to us through the bars. Is this how things are handled? This upholds neither the dignity of the EC nor that of democracy," she said.

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"Eventually, they agreed to let us come inside, a group of seven people. What threat did the EC perceive from 7-8 people? Why is the EC so terrified today? We are merely representatives; answers must be given to the people. The Modi government must answer for keeping the EC confined like a bird in a cage," she added.


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