The BJD on Thursday reiterated that the regional party will oppose Bihar-like Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral rolls in Odisha.
“During our meeting with the ECI, @bjd_odisha made it clear that if the forthcoming SIR in Odisha is conducted hurriedly, the Bihar way, leading to disenfranchisement of eligible genuine voters, then we will oppose it tooth and nail and hit the road. There’s no question of ‘backing’ the Bihar-style SIR,” the party’s IT and social media cell head and former MP Amar Patnaik posted on X.
The SIR will start next month after a gap of 24 years. Patnaik said that the BJD will be keeping a close watch on the exercise. Every single genuine Odia voter has a right to vote and the ECI has to ensure this. It has to ensure that NO ELIGIBLE VOTER IN ODISHA IS LEFT OUT!” he added.
Patnaik’s tweet has come a day after the Opposition BJD and Congress demanded absolute transparency in the process.
Odisha’s Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) R S Gopalan has said that all political parties in the state have been informed about the SIR, and preparations are underway to start the exercise in September. He further stated that the number of polling booths across the state will increase from 38,000 to 45,000 as a part of the revision to ensure better accessibility and voter convenience.
Gopalan added that the final voter list after verification would be published on January 7 next year. The first phase of the SIR in Bihar saw 6.5 lakh names being deleted from the draft electoral rolls. This reduced the total number of voters from around 7.9 crore to 7.24 crore.
Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC) president Bhakta Charan Das earlier alleged that the BJP might be planning to carry out ‘vote theft’ in Odisha by using the SIR exercise. “The government’s intention was exposed after the Supreme Court directed the ECI to provide details of voters excluded during the SIR in Bihar and forced it to publish the list. The Congress wants eligible voters to be included on the lists and ineligible ones to be excluded. But the working style and steps of the ECI, which has become a spokesperson of the BJP, are not satisfactory,” Das alleged.
He warned of a statewide movement if voter lists in Odisha were “tampered”. BJD spokesperson Lenin Mohanty said his party has no objection to a fair SIR. “But a Bihar-like exercise would force all to think differently. There should be clarity over the SIR exercise,” BJD spokesperson Lenin Mohanty said.
Responding to the allegations, BJP state president Manmohan Samal said: “The Election Commission is a constitutional body; whatever they will do, we will accept it. Transparency is important, and the Election Commission always ensures it… When Congress won the election, did they say something then?”
