Raipur, Nov 30 (UNI) The Chhattisgarh government has taken a firm position on the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, signalling closer scrutiny of entries that cannot be linked to the 2003 voter list. Deputy Chief Minister Vijay Sharma said that any individual whose name appears in the 2025 draft but has no blood relative recorded in the 2003 roll will be subject to a detailed verification process.
According to Sharma, the household enumeration forms currently in circulation are based on the updated 2025 electoral list, and the cross-check with the 2003 register is an essential part of ensuring accuracy. “If a continuous lineage does not appear in the records, the case will have to be examined. Depending on what the inquiry reveals, action under available legal provisions may follow,” he said, adding that relevant statutes could be tested in suspicious cases.
The Deputy Chief Minister’s remarks come at a time when the SIR exercise has prompted widespread debate across Chhattisgarh, with many households still in the process of gathering older documents. While the administration has described the revision drive as a routine process to maintain transparency, the new scrutiny framework has triggered questions about its practical implications.
Reacting to the government’s stance, Congress communication chief Sushil Anand Shukla said the ruling party is creating unnecessary alarm among citizens. He argued that such verification measures must be handled with administrative sensitivity rather than pressure. “The government should avoid placing additional burdens on people who are already finding it difficult to trace old records. Procedures like SIR should reassure citizens, not intimidate them,” Shukla said. He added that electoral corrections must be carried out carefully to ensure no genuine voter is inconvenienced or excluded.
Even as political reactions gather pace, officials maintain that the aim of the exercise is limited to establishing documentary coherence and preventing inaccuracies in the rolls. With verification continuing across districts, the SIR process is expected to remain at the centre of Chhattisgarh’s administrative and political discourse in the weeks ahead.
