SIR within EC's constitutional mandate to purify electoral rolls: Nadda
The Constitution also mandates that no eligible voter should be excluded from the list and that no ineligible voter should be included in the electoral rolls, the senior BJP leader added
Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare JP Nadda speaks in the Rajya Sabha during the Winter session of Parliament, in New Delhi (PTI)
NEW DELHI: Special Intensive Revision falls within the constitutional powers of the Election Commission to periodically purify electoral rolls to ensure no eligible voter is excluded from the list and no ineligible voter is included, Union Minister JP Nadda said in the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday.
Replying to a debate on Election Reforms in the Upper House, the Leader of the House attacked the Congress for creating an atmosphere that mass-scale rigging was taking place in the country in the name of SIR (Special Intensive Revision).
He also said that no questions were raised on the credibility of the EC when its functioning and work "was controlled by a single party" run by one family, without directly naming the Congress.
"SIR is a Special Intensive Revision that falls within the constitutional powers of the Election Commission. It is the Commission’s duty to periodically purify and rectify the electoral rolls," Nadda asserted.
He further said, "When it comes to preparing voter lists, the Constitution clearly empowers the Election Commission, along with granting it the authority to conduct elections".
The Constitution also mandates that no eligible voter should be excluded from the list and that no ineligible voter should be included in the electoral rolls, the senior BJP leader added.
Noting that SIR is not new, Nadda said it has been part of India’s democratic process since 1952.
It was conducted in 1952, 1957 and 1961, when Jawaharlal Nehru was Prime Minister. In 1965, Lal Bahadur Shastri was the Prime Minister. In 1983, Indira Gandhi was Prime Minister. In 1987 and 1989, Rajiv Gandhi was Prime Minister. In 1992, PV Narasimha Rao was Prime Minister, he recollected.
In 2002, Atal Bihari Vajpayee was Prime Minister, and in 2004, Manmohan Singh was Prime Minister.
"Except for Atal ji, every time SIR was carried out, the Prime Minister was from the Congress," Nadda said, adding the EC has power under the Constitution to verify the voters' list from time to time.
It becomes more important for EC to hold SIR as no deletion of voters has taken place since 2010, he said.
Nadda also hit back at the Opposition's accusation of the government denying discussion on SIR, saying the Modi government never shies away from discussion on any issue in Parliament.
He accused the Congress and Opposition parties of misleading the country by targeting the ECI and EVMs.