special intensive revision

Several foreign media publications covered the BJP’s thumping victory, though not without peddling propaganda about the victorious party’s ‘Hindu nationalist’ ideology, ‘Muslim minority under threat’ bogey and falsehoods about the pre-poll SIR exercise.

The objective of SIR is simple and non-negotiable: no eligible Indian citizen should be left out, and no ineligible, duplicate, deceased, or shifted person should remain on the list.

In the BBC article headlined, “Political turmoil in Indian border state as nine million lose voting rights”, Bhattacharya pushed a border state panic narrative and framed the name deletions as a politically motivated “loss of voting rights” that could “shape state policies”. Staying true to the objective of the propaganda piece, the Kolkata-based ‘independent journalist’ emphasised on the imaginary targeting of Muslims.

Special Intensive Revision removed duplicate, shifted and unverifiable electors across states. Uttar Pradesh recorded the largest drop, followed by Tamil Nadu and West Bengal, as total electorate declined after additions during claims, objections and verification.

The probe agency’s preliminary findings in the case indicate a simultaneous emergence of demonstration and road blockades across multiple locations, pointing to prior planning and strategic execution by an organised network rather than a ‘protest’ driven by organic anger over SIR.

A Bench comprising CJI Surya Kant, Justice Joymalya Bagchi and Justice Vipin Pancholi took sou motu cognisance of the Malda incident after being alerted by the Calcutta High Court CJI. The apex court came down heavily on the West Bengal government and the Malda district administration.

Mamata Banerjee claimed that the Election Commission officials ‘humiliated’ them and failed to address the concerns of the affected families over the SIR exercise in poll-bound West Bengal. The TMC delegation decided to ‘boycott’ the meeting after the ECI officials allegedly failed to address their grievances.