TMC dubs SIR ‘software intensive rigging’, seeks EC transparency

The Trinamool Congress alleged that the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls in West Bengal amounted to “software intensive rigging” and demanded greater transparency from the Election Commission, citing Supreme Court directions and hardships faced by voters

New Delhi: The Trinamool Congress (TMC) said on Tuesday that the SIR exercise in West Bengal is “Software Intensive Rigging”, as the ruling party in the State stressed the need for more “transparency’ in the ongoing process for electoral roll revision.

Addressing a press conference here, TMC leader in Rajya Sabha Derek O’Brien, deputy leader Sagarika Ghose and MP Saket Gokhale demanded that the Election Commission (EC) release the transcripts of the discussions held at recent meetings between a party delegation and the full bench of the poll panel.

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The press meet came a day after the Supreme Court directed the EC to display the names of the voters on the “logical discrepancies” list at gram panchayat bhavans and block offices.

“What does SIR actually stand for? Software Intensive Rigging…. The EC is one of the great institutions of our country, which has kept democracy vibrant for so many decades, but what has been happening now is a dismantling of this great institution,” O’Brien said at the press conference.

“All we seek from the All India Trinamool Congress is transparency…. Our chairperson has said it. Our national general secretary has said it. We are for SIR, but we are for a transparent SIR, a planned SIR…. A humane SIR,” he said.

O’Brien said during their meetings with the EC on November 28 and December 31 last year, the TMC leaders made several “constructive suggestions” for making the SIR process smoother. He challenged the poll panel to come out with the transcripts of the meetings.

“Release the transcripts…. It has been 50 days. So do not push our patience. Because if you do not release those transcripts, we will release those transcripts,” the TMC MP said.

Targeting Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar, he pointed out that prior to his appointment to the EC, he retired as the secretary of the Ministry of Cooperation under Home Minister Amit Shah, who is also the minister of cooperation.

O’Brien asserted that it is not “Trinamool versus somebody else”, but “the people of Bengal versus those who are trying to make the electoral process burdensome on the electors”.

Ghose pointed out that the apex court has directed the poll panel to work with transparency and said, “The Election Commission should not work with political interests.” It is the constitutional duty of the EC to protect the right of the citizen to vote, she added.

Ghose said the list of discrepancies and the hearings have led people to go through harrowing times, running from pillar to post to protect their right to vote.

“We are saying that the EC should not change the Special Intensive Revision to software-intensive rigging. And as the Supreme Court has instructed, the EC should work with transparency,” she said.

Referring to letters written by West Bengal Chief Minister and TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee to the CEC, O’Brien said, “What did the postscript say?… It said we know that you will not reply to these letters. Who is writing these letters? A three-time chief minister of a state who is about to become a four-time chief minister.” One of Banerjee’s letters to the CEC on the SIR issue contained a handwritten note, saying she did not expect a reply from Kumar.

“When we say transparency, this is not just a clever term which we have used in the morning. Software-intensive rigging. No. What software is the EC using? Why is it being revised constantly? We asked who makes this software? Come, tell us,” O’Brien said.

The Supreme Court said on Monday that the SIR process in West Bengal should be transparent and not cause inconvenience to people, and directed the EC to display the names of those on the “logical discrepancies” list at gram panchayat bhavans and block offices, where documents and objections will also be submitted.

Logical discrepancies in progeny linking with the 2002 voter list include instances, such as a mismatch in the parent’s name and the age difference between a voter and his parent being less than 15 years or more than 50 years.

In his plea before the apex court, O’Brien has alleged arbitrariness and procedural irregularities in the SIR of the electoral rolls in the state.

Another plea moved by TMC MP Dola Sen contends that the SIR orders are arbitrary, unconstitutional and will lead to invalid deletion of genuine voters.