SIR is only a way to clean up voter lists, says Shiv Sena's Sanjay Nirupam

At a press conference in Mumbai, Shiv Sena spokesperson Sanjay Nirupam hit back at the opposition over the political row surrounding the Election Commission and the intensive revision of voter lists. Nirupam said the Election Commission is a constitutional body and that the appointment and removal of the Chief Election Commissioner and Election Commissioners is governed by the Constitution and the law. He said language demanding that Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar resign within 48 hours was wrong given the constitutional setup and democratic institutions. Nirupam alleged that the opposition was deliberately spreading confusion over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR).

Nirupam said that blaming the Election Commission after election defeats and building a narrative of "vote theft" had become part of the opposition's politics. He said questioning the credibility of constitutional institutions when results do not go in one's favour was not a healthy tradition for democracy.

He said issues such as youth unemployment, education, and exams and paper leaks could be raised, but using these issues as cover to make baseless allegations against constitutional institutions like the Election Commission or against political parties was not right.

Responding to the opposition's objections over the SIR, Nirupam said identifying dead, permanently shifted, absent or duplicate voters in the voter list and updating the list as per rules was part of the electoral process itself. He said directly linking this entire process to "vote theft" was wrong.

Citing a similar exercise carried out in Bihar and West Bengal, Nirupam said there is an existing system for filing claims and objections over names in the voter list and for verifying necessary documents. He said that if there is an objection to any name under the SIR, the available legal and administrative process should be used for it.

On Maharashtra's voter list, Nirupam claimed that a large number of voters had come to light whose cases genuinely need to be examined. According to him, about 76 lakh voters are being described as "absent", about 75 lakh as permanently shifted, about 34 lakh as dead voters, and about 17 lakh as duplicate voters.

Nirupam said that if the names of dead, permanently shifted or duplicate voters are being removed from the list as per rules, priority should be given to the accuracy and correctness of the voter list instead of creating a political controversy over it.

Nirupam also objected to the opposition's allegations against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar. He said it was not right to hold any Election Commissioner or the entire electoral process responsible for an election defeat. Nirupam also appealed to the BJP and other parties to stand firmly behind the credibility of a constitutional institution like the Election Commission.

On the controversy over alleged letters by two Election Commissioners, Nirupam said there can be differing opinions while any institution takes a decision, but the final decision is taken according to the institutional process. He asked whether, if the commissioner concerned disagreed with a decision, they had formally recorded a "note of dissent" at the meeting.

Nirupam strongly objected to the Shiv Sena being called a "shell company" or a "proxy party". He said splits in parties or the formation of new parties are not new in Indian politics, and this has happened in the history of several parties, including the Congress, the NCP and the Trinamool Congress.

Nirupam said that in the 2024 elections, Maharashtra's voters voted for candidates of the Shiv Sena led by Eknath Shinde, and the party's MLAs and MPs were elected. He said questioning the party's political existence therefore meant questioning the mandate given by voters. He said linking electoral wins and losses to the credibility of constitutional institutions was not in the interest of the democratic system.