THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: In a notable political divergence, the highly influential Syro-Malabar Catholic Church has publicly endorsed the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, even as the ruling Left Democratic Front (LDF) and the Opposition United Democratic Front (UDF) have decided to pursue legal action against the drive.
On Wednesday, while an all-party meeting convened by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan unanimously criticized the SIR, the Church issued a letter urging its faithful to actively cooperate with the process.
The Church’s position gained immediate significance as it came a day after Major Archbishop Mar Raphael Thattil met Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi on Tuesday.
Church Directs Faithful to Cooperate
Fr. James Kokkavayalil, secretary of the Church’s Public Affairs Committee, instructed the laity to cooperate with the Booth Level Officers (BLOs) visiting their homes with enumeration forms.
The Church advised its members to have all documents prescribed by the Election Commission ready and to collect the BLOs’ phone numbers for communication.
It also specified that Church members who are Indian citizens but based abroad should complete the forms online or through relatives via the BLOs.
Government and Opposition Plan Legal Challenge
Meanwhile, at the online all-party meeting, all political parties, with the exception of the BJP, supported the move to challenge the SIR in court.
CM Pinarayi Vijayan stated that the government and the CPM will seek legal opinion on challenging the SIR, which is being conducted just ahead of local body polls.
Leader of Opposition V. D. Satheesan (Congress) affirmed that the Opposition was ready to become a party in the legal challenge if the government took the lead.
The CM also alleged that using the 2002 SIR roll when the 2025 voters’ list was already available was indicative of an “ulterior motive.”
CPM State Secretary M. V. Govindan termed the SIR “anti-constitutional and undemocratic.”
SIR Implementation Status
Day 2 Figures: On the second day of the SIR drive on Wednesday, 8.85 lakh people—approximately 3.18% of the voters in the 2025 list—were handed enumeration forms.
The CEO-Kerala has directed BLOs to carry out the task even during night hours to ensure completion, provided they do not inconvenience voters.
With input from TNIE
For more details: Navamalayalam.com
