Kerala’s battles with the SIR

Kerala is facing challenges with its Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, resulting in a significant number of voters being excluded. The draft roll published on December 23 saw the exclusion of over 24 lakh voters and an additional 19.32 lakh are "no mapping" cases. The Chief Electoral Officer (Kerala) has stated that all eligible voters will be included in the final list, but political parties have raised concerns about the fairness and accuracy of the process. The SIR coincides with local body elections, leading to comparisons with voter rolls maintained by the State Election Commission, which saw a dip from 2.78 crore to 2.54 crore voters after the publication of the draft roll. The ECI has held meetings with political parties but trust in the SIR remains low due to concerns about its potential political implications.