Team Goemkarponn
VASCO: Vasco Congress leader Nandadeep Raut warned of moving the courts if what he termed as harassment of residents continues under the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, alleging that the process is being misused to selectively target people in BJP strongholds as well as opposition pockets.
Addressing reporters in Vasco, Raut said the SIR exercise, which is meant to correct genuine errors in voter lists, has instead turned into a tool of intimidation. He alleged that residents were being repeatedly summoned and forced to defend their voter status based on frivolous objections raised by “random individuals with no direct connection to the household concerned”.
Raut claimed that in several cases, objections were filed en masse without any supporting documents, and those raising the objections failed to appear for the personal hearings scheduled by the election officers. “This is nothing but harassment. Objections are raised casually, people are dragged to hearings, and then the objectors do not even turn up. The entire burden is placed on innocent residents,” he said.
The Congress leader alleged that the BJP was encouraging such tactics to create fear and confusion among voters. He said many working-class families, senior citizens and migrants settled in Vasco were being put under undue stress due to repeated notices and hearings.
Demanding immediate corrective measures, Raut said election officials should be empowered to summarily reject objections if the person raising them fails to attend the personal hearing. “If an objection is serious, the objector must be present to justify it. Otherwise, such objections should be dismissed at the threshold,” he said.
Raut warned that if the present approach continues, then he would approach the courts to seek judicial intervention to protect citizens from what he described as arbitrary and selective application of the SIR process. He urged the Election Commission to ensure transparency, fairness and accountability in the revision exercise.
