‘Misleading, baseless’: EC fact-checks P Chidambaram’s migrant voters claim; warns against politicising SIR | India News
NEW DELHI: The Election Commission of India on Sunday fact-checked Congress MP P Chidambaram’s allegations of voter shift and migrant inclusion in Tamil Nadu, calling them “misleading and baseless.” Responding strongly to Chidambaram’s allegations, EC said, “There is no need for political leaders to spread false information with respect to the SIR exercise being conducted by ECl at national level.” The poll agency added that such information is being “deliberately peddled in the media with a view to obstruct the exercise.”
“As far as voters who have permanently shifted from Bihar to other states and are ordinarily resident in those states, the exact figures can be known only after the SIR has been conducted,” it added. “The Constitution of India read with RP Act 1950 envisages the Enrollment of voters with respect to the constituency in which they are ordinarily resident. It is for the voters to come forward and get enrolled in the constituency where they are eligible. But, it is noticed that some false figures are being floated about enrollment of 6.5 lakh voters in Tamil Nadu. SIR has not yet been rolled out in TN. It is therefore absurd to connect the SIR exercise in Bihar with TN. Such peddling of false statements with respect to SIR should be avoided,” the EC clarified.Also Read: ‘Alarming, illegal’: Chidambaram flags voter shifts; questions EC over migrant inclusion in TN, mass deletions in BiharThe Congress leader on Sunday, while criticising EC over SIR exercise, questioned it for adding approximately 6.5 lakh “migrant workers” to the electoral roll of Tamil Nadu, while around 65 lakh people were termed “permanently migrated” and were removed from Bihar’s voter list.Further in the post, the Election Commission highlighted five points to fact-check the Congress’s leader’s claim:
- As per Article 19(1)(e) All Citizens shall have the right to reside and settle in any part of the territory of India.
- As per Section 19(b) of the Representation of the People Act, 1950, every person who is ordinary resident in a constituency shall be entitled to be registered in the electoral roll of that constituency.
- Section 20 of the Representation of the People Act, 1950 gives the meaning of “Ordinary Resident”
- Therefore, a person originally belonging to Tamil Nadu, but is ordinarily residing in Delhi, is entitled to be registered as an Elector in Delhi.
- Similarly, a person originally belonging to Bihar, but is ordinarily residing in Chennai, is entitled to be registered as an Elector in Chennai.
‘Alarming, illegal’: Chidambaram flags voter shiftsIn a post on X, Chidambaram wrote, “The SIR exercise is getting curiouser and curiouser. While 65 lakh voters are in danger of being disenfranchised in Bihar, reports of “adding” 6.5 lakh persons as voters in Tamil Nadu is alarming and patently illegal. Calling them “permanently migrated” is an insult to the migrant workers and a gross interference in the right of the electorate of Tamil Nadu to elect a government of its choice.” “Why should the migrant worker not return to Bihar (or his/her home state) to vote in the State Assembly election, as they usually do? Does not the migrant worker return to Bihar at the time of the Chhath puja festival?” he further asked in the same post. “A person to be enrolled as a voter must have a fixed and permanent legal home. The migrant worker has such a home in Bihar (or another state). How can he/she be enrolled as a voter in Tamil Nadu? If the migrant worker’s family has a permanent home in Bihar and lives in Bihar, how can the migrant worker be considered as “permanently migrated” to Tamil Nadu?” he wrote. Tagging Tamil Nadu’s chief minister’s office in the post, the former home minister alleged EC of abusing its power and “trying to change the electoral character and patterns of states.” He further said that the abuse of power must be “fought politically and legally.”
