Shillong, Oct 8 : Opposition leader and former Chief Minister Dr. Mukul Sangma has questioned the timing of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Meghalaya, alleging it could be misused to selectively delete voters ahead of the Shillong parliamentary bypoll.
Sangma termed the inordinate delay in holding the Shillong Lok Sabha by-election as “peculiar” and said both the election and the SIR are the sole responsibility of the Election Commission of India.
“If SIR is done on the eve of election, parties will be able to identify voter affiliations,” Sangma said, warning that selective deletion of voters cannot be ruled out.
He said weaponising the electoral system to win elections reflects an “abnormal situation” and questioned why the revision exercise was not carried out one or two years ahead of polls.
“The idea of conducting SIR just before elections is questionable,” he added.
