Collective urges recognised political parties to boycott CEO‘s meeting on SSR

Activists and volunteers of the Independent Young Citizens Collective have urged recognised political parties in Tamil Nadu to boycott the meeting convened by Chief Electoral Officer Archana Patnaik on October 23 to discuss the Special Summary Revision (SSR) of electoral rolls.

Addressing a press conference in Chennai, cultural and political activist Radhika Ganesh, on behalf of the collective, urged political parties to demand that the Election Commission reschedule the meeting in view of the ‘People’s March to Restore Democracy’ called by People Against SIR.

At a time when several questions related to the SIR of electoral rolls remain unanswered, it is condemnable to proceed with the SSR and shift the entire onus on electors to enrol themselves if their names are not on the electoral rolls, the collective said.

It demanded that the Election Commission conduct a door-to-door survey of every household, organise public hearings at every polling booth on a holiday with prior notice, video-record the proceedings, hold a separate meeting with civil society organisations and NGOs, and provide searchable electoral rolls.