Allegations being made: Athawale on Tharoor’s remarks saying ‘SIR likely influenced poll outcomes in Bengal, Kerala’

Mumbai, May 11 (IANS) Union Minister Ramdas Athawale on Monday reacted to Congress MP Shashi Tharoor’s remarks alleging that the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process likely influenced election outcomes in West Bengal and Kerala, saying that allegations were being made but no one could be silenced merely through accusations.

Speaking to reporters, Athawale defended the SIR process and said it was carried out to remove the names of deceased voters and identify duplicate entries in electoral rolls.

“There are allegations being made, but no one can silence anyone by making accusations. The SIR process was carried out because the names of deceased people needed to be removed. It was also done because, at times, one person’s name appeared in two, three, or even four places,” Athawale claimed.

He further stated that irregularities were also found in voter registrations at several addresses.

“Another issue was that while a family can have four, five, or even six to seven members living at one address, there were instances where 20 to 40 names were registered at a single address. Verification was therefore necessary,” he added.

Athawale maintained that the revision exercise was conducted for genuine administrative reasons and dismissed allegations of manipulation.

“So, the SIR was conducted for all these reasons. It is not as if Mamata Banerjee lost completely; she received a large number of votes. However, the BJP winning such a high number of seats is a major victory for the party. There is nothing like corruption in this. The machines functioned properly. PM Modi’s leadership and appeal made it possible for the NDA to win there,” he said.

Earlier in the day, Shashi Tharoor said around 91 lakh names were removed from the voter list during the process. Of these, about 34 lakh people appealed, saying they were genuine voters.

Tharoor said only a small number of these appeals were checked before polling, while most remained unresolved when voting took place.

Speaking at the ‘India, That is Bharat’ roundtable during the Stanford India Conference, Tharoor said, “In the matter of the SIR, what I have said is a legitimate question to answer. Look at the Bengal case. 91 lakh names were struck off the rolls. Of those, 34 lakh living human beings have appealed, saying that they are around and they are legitimately entitled to vote. The rules have required each case to be adjudicated individually, so only a few hundred were adjudicated before the vote. To this day, there are some 31-32 lakh people who might be found to have been legitimate voters in the remaining years while adjudication carries on, but they have missed their chance to vote.”

–IANS

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