Everyone has started feeling EC has become 'tool of ruling party': Cong MP Tankha on SIR

Indore, Nov 25 (PTI) Accusing the Election Commission of rushing through the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, Congress Rajya Sabha member Vivek Tankha said on Tuesday everyone is now beginning to feel the constitutional body has become a "tool of the ruling party".

How can the SIR process be completed within 30 days, given the huge number of voters in the country? Tankha asked while talking to PTI here.

The EC's Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voters' list commenced in nine states, including Madhya Pradesh, and three Union territories on November 4 and the exercise will go on till December 4.

"Many booth-level officers (BLOs) engaged in SIR work are dying of heart attacks. Why is there so much haste regarding SIR? Three or four months could have been set aside to complete the SIR process," insisted the Rajya Sabha MP from Madhya Pradesh.

Tankha, who is also a Supreme Court lawyer, noted the EC faces trust issue after the manner in which it announced SIR.

"What is the Election Commission trying to prove by rushing into such a situation? The commission is a constitutional body, and the entire country respects it. But if it acts like this, how will people trust it?" he maintained.

The Congress Rajya Sabha member said, "It should never appear that the commission is doing all this at the behest of a political party. But it is very unfortunate that in today's circumstances, everyone is beginning to feel the commission has become a tool of the ruling party." Tankha claimed that the way the SIR process is being carried out is causing more problems for the country and will provide less solutions.

On the eve of Constitution Day, the senior lawyer alleged that the country's constitutional institutions are being weakened.

"The (BJP) government says we want to become the world's leading economy. To do this, the government must first respect the democratic spirit," the parliamentarian argued. PTI HWP MAS RSY