Mamata questions SIR timeframe, seeks inclusion of EPIC in voter

Kolkata, Sep 9 (PTI) Noting that her party's stand against the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral rolls aligns with the INDIA bloc, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday said that such an exercise cannot be completed in just two or three months.

Banerjee also suggested that both Aadhaar and the Electoral Photo Identity Card (EPIC) be formally included in the SIR process.

“We are against the SIR. Our party's stand is that of the INDIA alliance. It cannot be done in two or three months,” the Trinamool Congress supremo said.

“The voter card (EPIC) is the identity card (for a voter). Inclusion of the Aadhaar card means everybody has it. And the person who does not have it will get it done. I think the EPIC card should also be included,” she told reporters at the Kolkata airport before leaving for an administrative tour to the northern part of the state.

Banerjee’s remarks came a day after the Supreme Court directed that the Aadhaar card "must" be included as an identity proof of voters in the SIR exercise in Bihar.

The EC has carried out an SIR in Bihar, apparently to weed out ineligible names and ensure only eligible citizens are included in the electoral roll, ahead of the assembly polls due later this year. It is being speculated that the same exercise would be conducted in West Bengal ahead of the elections next year. PTI SCH NN