Electoral rolls not perfect: Rift widens as Shashi Tharoor backs revision drive

Congress MP Shashi Tharoor on Sunday voiced support for the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls being conducted by the Election Commission of India, emphasising that the process should be carried out openly to ensure public confidence in the fairness of elections. His remarks come even as his own party and opposition parties have criticised the exercise, alleging that it could disenfranchise voters ahead of the Bihar Assembly elections.

Speaking to ANI, Tharoor acknowledged that the electoral rolls were not perfect, citing issues such as duplicate entries, deceased voters still listed, and people registered at multiple addresses.

"Everyone who has participated in elections has known that the electoral rolls are not perfect. There are duplicates, dead voters, and living voters who are not registered. Additionally, there are people who have moved to a new address and have two or three addresses in two or three different booths. All of these things have existed, but if it has happened on a very big scale, then they need to be addressed. I think the election commission's best approach should be to confront these matters very openly," he said.

Tharoor highlighted that modern digital technologies could streamline the process of updating electoral rolls, making it more efficient and reliable.

He suggested that an SIR could be conducted annually, using algorithms to flag duplicates and resolve discrepancies, thereby eliminating doubts over the credibility of the voter list.

"It's in the interest of the election commission's own credibility that no voter should have any doubt in their minds and hearts about the fairness of the election. Challenges there are, and no one is going to achieve perfection. But we can certainly respond, I hope in a fair manner, to the legitimate concerns and the legitimate questions asked by the opposition," he added.

The Congress MP also extended support to the Centre's recent overhaul of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) structure, describing it as a step towards a fairer system.

"We in the Congress party have been asking for this for many years Now I think it's a much fairer system and we hope it'll be much better for everyone," he said.

The government has approved a simplified two-tier GST system, with rates of 5 per cent and 18 per cent, eliminating the previous 12 per cent and 28 per cent slabs. The new structure will take effect from September 22, coinciding with the start of Navaratri.

The recent SIR exercise in Bihar led to the deletion of 65 lakh names from the draft electoral list during its initial phase. Of these, 25 lakh were removed due to migration, 22 lakh as deceased, 9.7 lakh as "not found" at their addresses, and seven lakh for being registered in multiple constituencies.

The last date for filing claims for inclusion or exclusion from the draft list was August 31, and the final electoral roll is scheduled for publication on September 30.

Opposition parties have strongly criticised the exercise, alleging that it could result in vote manipulation and disenfranchisement ahead of the Assembly elections later this year.

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