SIR type of '€˜backdoor NRC'€™, sharply differs from past revisions: Cong Bengal MP Choudhury

New Delhi, Dec 10 (PTI) Lone Congress MP from West Bengal Isha Khan Choudhury on Wednesday alleged that the special intensive revision of electoral rolls is a type of a "backdoor NRC" and the current exercise sharply differs from past such voter list revisions.

Participating in the debate in Lok Sabha on 'election reforms', he said this special intensive revision (SIR) has turned into a bureaucratic maze, demanding legacy documents that many vulnerable citizens never had, making the right to vote "theoretical rather than real".

"The right of every adult citizen to vote is recognized under article 326 of the Indian Constitution. However, today I wish to discuss how this universal right is being weakened, instead of strengthened, because of the particular way the ongoing SIR is being executed," Choudhury said. Unlike what the law minister would have us believe, this SIR exercise sharply differs from revisions that have been done in the past, the Malda Dakshin MP said.

As opposed to the present three month window in which the SIR was conducted, the 2003 guidelines for Bihar show that the entire exercise was conducted for over six months, with house to house verification, Choudhury said.

Another major difference between the present exercise and 2003 SIR is that guidelines show that the Election Commission had made existing voter rolls and EPIC cards as a base for the exercise, unlike the 2025 exercise, he said.

He said ECI has instructed BLOs to collect documents from the people of India proving that they are citizens of India, not only voters.

In effect, the EC is conducting a "backdoor NRC (National Register of Citizens) which we are opposing", Choudhury said.

The Congress leader urged the House and the ECI to reform the current SIR process.

Voters displaced due to natural disasters are granted special consideration, with alternate, flexible documentation accepted to prove identity and past residence, he said.

The aim of the ECI and SIR should be that no Indian citizen is left behind as it is a democratic and constitutional right that must be fostered and protected, Choudhury said. PTI ASK ZMN