NCP-SP Stages Protest In Pune Over SIR, Seeks Inquiry Into Voter-List Revision

Pune: The NCP-SP staged a protest outside the Pune District Collector’s Office on Thursday, opposing the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls and demanding greater transparency in the process.

The protest was organised by the Pune city (West) unit of the party, led by its president Vishal Vilasrao Tambe, who submitted a representation addressed to the President of India through the Pune District Collector and District Election Officer. The memorandum raised concerns over the deletion of voters’ names, difficulties faced by citizens in restoring their names and the functioning of the Election Commission during the SIR exercise.

The protesters demanded an independent inquiry into the functioning of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, particularly with regards to the SIR process, voter registration, deletion and restoration of names, changes through Form 6 and the use of the digital voter database.

The Election Commission’s SIR exercise is aimed at verifying and updating electoral rolls. The protest comes amid concerns raised by some voters in Pune after finding their names missing from the draft roll. The Indian Express had earlier reported instances of voters discovering that their names had been excluded from the draft list and being marked under categories such as ‘permanently shifted’.

In its memorandum, the NCP-SP demanded that names of eligible voters deleted due to procedural or technical errors be restored immediately after verification. It also sought a system under which no voter’s name is deleted without prior notice, a stated reason, an opportunity to submit documents and an effective hearing.

Tambe said, “The party’s concern was not against verification of electoral rolls, but against the possibility of genuine voters being excluded from the democratic process. The authorities must ensure that every eligible citizen gets an opportunity to establish their eligibility before a name is removed from the electoral roll.”

The party also demanded an independent technical audit of the voter database and digital systems associated with electoral rolls. According to the memorandum, such an audit should examine security, access controls, data integrity, modification logs and the audit trail showing when and by whom changes were made to voter records.

The protesters further sought an independent grievance-redressal mechanism through which voters whose names are deleted can appeal against the decision from the local level to the central level. They also demanded an independent review of the final SIR decisions and a sample audit of electoral rolls after completion of the exercise.

The memorandum stated that the electoral-roll revision should remain politically neutral and should not result in any political party receiving an unfair advantage.