KPCC orders BLAs to ensure SIR did not disenfranchise voters

The Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee’s (KPCC) Political Affairs Committee on Wednesday decided to cooperate with the Election Commission of India’s (EC) Special Intensive Review (SIR) of the voters’ list. 

KPCC president Sunny Joseph, MLA, said at a press conference that the party would ensure its block-level agents (BLAs) fully cooperate with the EC’s block level officers (BLO) to prevent the SIR from disfranchising legitimate voters. 

The Political Affairs Committee reportedly concluded that non-cooperation with the SIR could work to the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) Opposition’s disadvantage. 

However, it strongly opposed the EC’s decision to hold the SIT in Kerala simultaneously with the local body polls. Mr. Joseph said MLAs and MPs, including AICC general secretary K.C. Venugopal, had to fill new forms and undergo the laborious process of enrolling themselves in the EC’s voters’ list. He said the EC’s decision to hold the SIR was manifestly anti-democratic and politically calibrated to advantage the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance. 

The Congress is mulling writing to the ECI to extend the period of the SIR by another month so that the exercise becomes more transparent and free of glitches, said a party insider.

Mr. Joseph said the Congress would organise protest marches at all wards on November 17 (the first day of the Malayalam month of Vrishickam), which marks the beginning of the annual Sabarimala Mandalam-Makaravilakku pilgrimage season. 

“We will hold prayer meetings and march with lit lamps to demand Devaswom Minister V.N. Vasavan’s resignation concerning official collusion in the theft of valuable artefacts from the Sabarimala Ayyappa temple,“ he said. 

Mr. Joseph said the CPI(M) had no choice but to name former Chief Secretary K. Jayakumar as the Travancore Devaswom Board president. “The government could not electorally afford to elevate a CPI(M)’s political nominee to the top post in the run-up to the local body polls,” he said. 

Mr. Joseph said the UDF had unanimously completed seat-sharing talks. “The UDF would address the minor issues in some wards in Wayanad,” he said. 

AICC general secretary in charge of Kerala Deepa Dasmunshi, Mr. Venugopal, Ramesh Chennithala, K. Muraleedharan, Congress MLAs and MPs, KPCC working presidents, and other senior leaders participated in the meeting. Leader of the Opposition V.D. Satheesan’s office had announced that doctors had advised him to take two days of rest following a minor illness.