Oppn raises SIR concerns in Gujarat assembly debate; Speaker allows limited discussion on exercise

Gandhinagar, Feb 28 (PTI) Congress and AAP MLAs on Saturday raised concerns in the Gujarat assembly over alleged irregularities in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, including deletion of voters' names.

During a discussion in the House on an appropriation Bill authorising expenditure incurred in this fiscal for voter list revision, the Opposition flagged complaints about large numbers of Form 7 applications, meant for deletion of names from voter lists, being filed across constituencies without the knowledge of voters concerned.

The debate began after the BJP government sought passage of an appropriation Bill to regularise expenditure incurred on SIR-related work in the state.

While Speaker Shankar Chaudhary had already allowed two Congress MLAs and one AAP legislator to speak on the Bill, Gujarat Forest and Environment Minister Arjun Modhwadia raised a point of order contending that matters pertaining to Election Commission of India (ECI) cannot be discussed in the state assembly.

Citing Article 324 of the Constitution, he said the EC is an autonomous constitutional body responsible for conducting Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabha elections and that the state government has no authority to interfere in its processes, including voter list preparation or revision.

He argued that while state machinery performs election-related tasks, it does so strictly under the control of ECI as per Representation of the People Act.

Issues concerning voter list revisions, EVMs, VVPATs and related matters therefore fall outside the jurisdiction of the state government, Modhwadia said while urging the assembly speaker to disallow discussion on them.

BJP MLA and former speaker Ramanlal Vora supported the point of order, reiterating that though employees belong to the state, their election duties are carried out under direct control of EC and, hence, the assembly was not the appropriate forum to question those processes.

Congress and AAP members, however, opposed the move to block the discussion.

Congress MLA Kirit Patel said while the legislative assembly cannot question independent decisions of EC or matters pending before courts, administrative flaws where the state government bears responsibility must be open to debate.

Congress MLA Amit Chavda said protection of the constitutional right to vote was paramount in a democracy.

"Since the ground-level machinery from booth-level officers to election officials belongs to the state government, this House should examine errors in the preparation of electoral rolls and other administrative lapses," he said.

Congress MLA Shailesh Parmar claimed since funds from the state treasury were being used for SIR, the assembly had the right to debate how the money was being spent.

After hearing arguments from both sides, speaker Shankar Chaudhary, delivering his ruling, said he had reviewed past records and found that similar discussions on supplementary demands had been permitted by former speakers.

Under Article 324, the ECI is autonomous and the assembly cannot discuss its statutory and constitutional duties, including SIR exercise, he said in his ruling.

However, Chaudhary clarified that members were permitted to discuss the supplementary demands and administrative lapses of the state machinery involved in implementing the exercise.

He cautioned that there was a "thin line" between criticising state administration and attacking the autonomy of ECI and warned members not to cross it.

After being allowed to speak, AAP MLA Chaitar Vasava alleged there was a sudden influx of thousands of Form 7 applications around January 17 and 18 across constituencies to delete names of registered voters from the rolls.

He claimed several such applications were filed without supporting documents and individuals whose names appeared on the forms denied submitting them on being contacted by his team.

Congress MLA Jignesh Mevani invoked the Constitution drafted by Babasaheb Ambedkar to assert that voting is a fundamental right.

"As part of a pre-planned strategy, there was an attempt to remove names of nearly 14 lakh people belonging to a particular community in Gujarat. Such acts will destroy social harmony in Gujarat. The state government must identify those behind these fraudulent Form 7s, file FIRs and send them to jail," said Mevani.

He claimed De-notified Tribes (DNT) and nomadic communities, who lack permanent addresses, may lose voting rights for the lack of even one document.

Congress MLA Amrutji Thakor claimed election authorities were not accepting Aadhaar or even EPIC cards as valid documents to enter names in the revised electoral rolls.

On the issue of deletion of names through Form 7, Thakor stated that citizens have a democratic right to know who is "actively trying to snatch their voting rights by secretly filing these forms against them".

In his response, Finance Minister Kanubhai Desai said Form 7 is the prescribed procedure for name deletion but no name is removed merely upon its submission. Booth Level Officers conduct mandatory field verification and, if required, hearings are organised before any final decision, he added.

Following a lengthy debate, the Gujarat (Supplementary) Appropriation Bill, 2026, was passed by a majority voice vote. The Congress and AAP did not extend their support to the legislation. PTI PJT PD BNM