Chief Electoral Officer (Kerala) Rathan U. Kelkar on Saturday indicated that the schedule announced by the Election Commission of India (EC) for the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls will remain unchanged in the State.
At a weekly review meeting on SIR here, Mr. Kelkar was responding to a demand by major political parties, including the CPI(M) and the Congress, that the SIR should be halted till the local body elections are over. They also wanted the publication date of the draft SIR rolls postponed from December 9 as it coincides with the Phase 1 local body elections in the State. Political parties urged Mr. Kelkar to take up the matter with the EC at the earliest.
CPI(M) stance
Mr. Kelkar replied that the EC schedule will have to be followed, which prompted senior CPI(M) leader M.V. Jayarajan, who was present, to state, “Then we will not cooperate.” Later, speaking to the media, Mr. Jayarajan alleged that the SIR was timed to upset the local body elections where the CPI(M)-led Left Democratic Front was poised for a major victory.
Political parties wanted the SIR put off until after December 11 or December 13, the respective dates of the second and final phase of the local body polls and vote counting day. There was also a demand that the house-to-house enumeration phase be extended from December 4 to December 30 in Kerala so that political parties can turn their attention fully to SIR once the elections are over.
Mr. Jayarajan was sharply critical of the statistics put out by the CEO’s office that close to 85% of the enumeration forms have been distributed in the State. “It is easy to distribute the forms. But it is humanly impossible to get them filled up and returned within the present deadline. How many forms have been returned to the booth-level officers (BLO) is the question. It is not easy to fill them up,” Mr. Jayarajan said.
Congress concurs
Echoing the concerns, M.K. Rahman of the Congress said that the BLOs are overburdened with work related to SIR and the local body polls. He demanded that Mr. Kelkar look into reports that BLOs in some areas were instructed to report 100% distribution of the forms even if they had not done so. Mr. Rahman also suggested that the CEO’s office hold special drives at polling stations to ensure 100% enumeration.
BJP reaction
The BJP representative at the meeting, J.R. Padmakumar, termed the objections to the SIR “politically motivated.” But he added that if the exercise was indeed postponed until after the elections, his party “would make use of the opportunity.”
The CPI, Kerala Congress (M), Kerala Congress, and RSP also reiterated the demand that the SIR be postponed until after the elections. They pointed out that the operational overlap with the local body polls had created problems in the distribution and collection of enumeration forms.
The parties also said that despite attending multiple meetings convened by the CEO, the concerns raised by them were not being addressed. Sathyan Mokeri of the CPI, Stephen George of the CPI(M), K. Jayakumar of the Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP), and Joy Abraham of Kerala Congress were present.
.
Published – November 15, 2025 06:53 pm IST
