SIR an attempt to change nature of Indian nation, says Parakala Prabhakar

Economist and political commentator Parakala Prabhakar has claimed that the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral roll undertaken by the Election Commission of India is an attempt to change the nature of the Indian nation.

He was delivering a lecture at an event organised by the Centre for the Protection of Democratic Rights and Secularism and the Janakeeya Prathirodha Samithi, on Sunday (December 21).

Mr. Prabhakar said that intensive revision was much more than an election issue. “It is not a question of which party wins or which party loses…It is not targeted to delete the dead or avoid duplications either,” he claimed.

Mr. Prabhakar said that in Bihar, the population of those aged above 18 was 8.22 crore. After the SIR, it came down to 7.42 crore. Around 80 lakh people could not find their names on the list. “Am I wrong if I suspect its motive?” Women voters were fewer by 60 lakh, and there was a significant drop in the number of Muslim voters as well. There was a reason to suspect a targeting of women and minority voters, he said.

According to another survey, the deletion of the names of young voters who are dead did not match their demographic size. Quoting a media outlet, Mr. Prabhakar said that 75 seats changed hands in the subsequently held Assembly polls as a result of SIR. He also claimed that the second phase of the SIR was much worse than that of Bihar. As many as 2.93 crore were supposed to be deleted from the voters’ list in Uttar Pradesh and 90 lakh in Tamil Nadu, among others, Mr. Prabhakar added.