Will hold weekly talks with political parties for smooth SIR process: Kerala CEO

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WITH Kerala gearing up for the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Rathan Kelkar is confident that no eligible voter, including those living abroad, will be left out.

In a state where both the ruling front and the Opposition have raised concerns over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, Kelkar remains unfazed. Speaking to TNM in an interview, he says the process is transparent, inclusive, and guided by a single mandate: to ensure all eligible voters are included and all ineligible names are removed.

To build consensus and address apprehensions, the Chief Electoral Officer has decided to hold weekly meetings with political parties and provide regular updates on the progress.

Addressing Kerala’s unique challenge of a large expatriate population, Kelkar has now sought a relaxation from the Election Commission of India (ECI) on the rule that requires overseas voter verification to happen at embassies.

He has proposed using IT-based methods like WhatsApp or video calls to verify Non-Resident Keralites whose houses remain closed and have no relatives present locally. “I will take personal interest and ensure that the concerns of all such people are redressed,” he said.

In this state, unlike many others, both the ruling party and the Opposition have expressed their opposition to the SIR. How challenging will it be for your department to implement it and move forward with the process?

No, I do not find any particular challenge as such in implementation because everybody's mandate is very clear that all eligible people should be in the electoral roll, all ineligible people should be out of the electoral roll. So, that is the mandate which everybody is agreeing to and that is the mandate of SIR. The intention with which we are working is for execution of this mandate. Whatever their concerns are, we will be able to address them and move forward is what I think.

Now, as part of that initiative, what I am planning to do is to ensure that we have a weekly meeting with all of them and give them an update on all the activities that we are doing. If they are having any concerns moving forward, they can raise it and we can sort it out. So, that is what will happen.

But the political parties, will they cooperate?

Yes. They will definitely cooperate because our objective is the same and they will definitely be part and parcel of it. They are the major stakeholders in the entire process and the booth-level agents will definitely be important participants in the entire activity.

So, currently, they already have 56,000 booth-level agents. We have requested them to post more so that when this activity happens, they will all be convinced about what is happening on the field and at the weekly meetings, we will also insist their to participate.

I am planning to have weekly meetings every Saturday, from next week onwards. Every Saturday, we will have at 11 am so they can keep getting an update on what is happening and if they have any concerns, they can keep telling us.

The meeting will have representatives of all the same recognised political parties. Political parties, okay. State and the nationally recognised political parties are who we have meetings with. 

When SIR was implemented in Bihar, there were several controversies, with claims that around 65 lakh names were omitted from the voters’ list. Do you anticipate similar concerns or challenges arising here?

The ECI has clearly told us that everybody who is an elector as of today in the electoral roll will be given an enumeration form. That means as of October 27, 2025, when we froze that electoral roll, 2.78 crore people were in that roll. All will get an enumeration form. That enumeration form, they have to just fill and sign and give it back.

Once that is done, even if they are not giving any records, we will collect it and they will be part of the draft electoral roll. No verification of them will happen at that stage. So, out of 2.78 crore, if everybody is giving the enumeration form back by signing it, when the Booth Level Officer (BLO) starts distributing, they will go to their home and give it. If people want to give online, they can give it. Once we get it, they are all part of the electoral roll.

Then the second step comes about finding if they are eligible or not, based on a mechanism that the election commission has informed. People were already there in the electoral roll earlier in 2002, which was the last time SIR was in Kerala. They don't have to give any records. If their children are now in the 2025 list and if they can prove that their parents were there, where in the form itself, there is a provision to include those details, even if their records are not going to be checked.

We feel more than 90% of the people will fall in this category, where they don't have to give any records. The rest of the people, if there is any doubt in the minds of officials, they will ask for some record as per the ECI mandate. They give that record and they will be in. So, where is the confusion that they will be left out? Confusion is totally uncalled for.

All the eligible people will be included is what the ECI has been repeatedly saying. I am also repeatedly telling all the political parties. They have to deploy enough people and it is being done in their presence only. It is probably just a concern. But once we start activities and are having weekly meetings, if there are any concerns, we can address and move forward.

I don't think we will have a situation where everybody will object to what we are doing because everybody is clear about the electoral roll. People, media, all want a pure electoral roll with all eligible people. Duplicates, dead and everybody ineligible should be removed. So, where there is no confusion. We are all agree that there is a need for SIR.

We just have to inform them that the process is transparent. They are going to be part of it. If a person feels like they are going to be left out, they can always come back to us and there is a mechanism to come back to us and we can sort out the problems. Kerala is not a place where people will not have any documents. Everybody has 3 or 4 documents.

Probably their apprehension is that the local body polls are happening at the same time. We have told them clearly that the officials on election duty will be few. They will be supported with additional staff. Till December 9, we will only be distributing and correcting the form.

By mid-December, the entire local body polls will be over. We have another two months to finalise the electoral roll (before Assembly polls). I do not find any problem in moving ahead with the exercise.

Do we now have enough manpower to carry it out smoothly?

We were thinking initially that if the schedule is tight, it will be difficult to do it. But now, after the schedule is known and we know how many people are drafted for the election the process is easy.

Earlier, at the time of provisioning of the enumeration form, we had to check everything. That could have been a difficult task. But now the ECI clearly said that the first one-and-a-half months or rather one month, will only be for the collection of forms. No verifications by the BLO will happen. All these things will happen only after December 9. The ECI is supporting us with more staff who are not on election duty. We can move forward easily.

While BLOs are expected to visit households up to three times, how will the process work for those who are abroad? What provisions are in place for them to complete the process online?

So, now, if a person has moved outside, from November 5, the online module will be operational. Anybody can download the form, fill it and upload it. And if there are some records needed at the time of verification, they may have to provide it. The ECI has clearly said that any relative can also sign on behalf of the elector when the BLO visits the house. The elector himself or herself need not sign. Any relative can also sign, it can be a mother, father, aunt, sister, anybody; it is an adult member, they can sign. In Kerala I think 95 per cent of the overseas electors will have somebody at home.

In Kerala, where many families have members working abroad and several houses remain closed, how will you ensure that such voters are not left out of the SIR process?

When I had a meeting with all the pravasis (non-resident Keralites) facilitated by NORKA (a Kerala government department that addresses the issues and welfare of Non-Resident Keralites), they told me that some one or other members are already at home, but very few may be closed. So, if the houses are closed, then we will create a mechanism to ensure that they are enrolled by a valid verification methodology. I will take personal interest and ensure that the concerns of all such people are redressed.

But the Election Commission hasn’t yet issued any specific guidelines on that yet?

As per existing guidelines, if there is some confusion, the verification should happen at the embassy from wherever they are currently. We have asked the ECI to relax that condition for Kerala because we have a lot of pravasi voters and probably explore options of allowing technologies like WhatsApp calls or video conferencing through which we can ensure the validation of identity. 

For that to happen, the ECI has to issue guidelines that are under consideration of the commission. We have already given a proposal to that effect.

In this context, if a few names are omitted from the list, will that list be published along with the reasons for the omissions?

Yes, it has to be done as directed by the commission. We are giving 2.78 crore enumeration forms. If some of the forms are not coming back, the reason for it has to be written very clearly and published in our websites and also pasted in the government offices, panchayat buildings and other places.

They will have the right to appeal and… yes, the first right to appeal would be with the collector, the second appeal would rest with the CEO. From the Bihar experience, no appeals have been filed till now. But if people want to file an appeal, there is a provision.

Can appeals be filed only by individuals, or can political parties and organisations also submit them on their behalf?

So, as per the commission's guidelines and the rules, any person can submit on their own behalf. The second provision is that any voter of that constituency can also submit. The political parties will have booth-level agents, who are generally people from the same constituency and are voters there. So, they can object if there is something wrong. 

Apart from the media campaigns, are there any local-level awareness initiatives being planned to reach people directly?

We are planning a series of activities, including issuing press releases, campaigns on the visual media, on the FM and through our social media. We are planning a lot of activities which will start in the next few days.

Do you have sufficient time and resources to complete these activities ahead of the 2026 elections?

We are looking at involving various communities like students through the electoral literacy clubs. We are engaging with various groups including people with disabilities, with the IT crowd through G-Tech and also with the gated communities and owners associations in apartments. We will build that momentum.