Former Delhi Chief Minister and AAP Goa In-Charge Atishi has raised serious concerns over the Election Commission of India’s (ECI) decision to conduct the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral rolls and Zilla Panchayat (ZP) elections simultaneously in Goa.
Speaking after a meeting with the Election Commission, Atishi questioned the urgency and timing of conducting both exercises together. “The SIR process in Goa has already begun, and the draft electoral roll is scheduled to be released on December 9. However, Zilla Panchayat elections are also slated for December 13, with the reservation announcement made today. In a few days, the Model Code of Conduct will come into effect. During election time, all political parties and their workers are fully engaged in campaign activities. This raises a serious question—who will monitor the SIR process if political workers are occupied with the elections?” she asked.
Atishi further argued that there was no immediate necessity to conduct both processes simultaneously. “There is still more than a year left for the Goa Assembly elections. The SIR exercise could very well have been scheduled after the Zilla Panchayat elections,” she said.
Highlighting a loophole in the SIR framework, Atishi pointed out that the SIR guidelines lack a mechanism to address missing names from the draft rolls. “The current SIR process only provides a procedure for filing objections against wrongful inclusions in the draft rolls, but there is no remedy for voters whose names have been left out, which is a major concern,” she added.
The AAP has urged the Election Commission to reconsider the timing of the SIR and ensure that no voter is disenfranchised due to administrative overlap with ongoing electoral activities.
