Pune: The state Chief Electoral Officer has forwarded the Congress’s demand to postpone the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls by a month to the Election Commission of India. The party cited concerns that the Ashadhi Wari and the monsoon could affect the door-to-door voter verification exercise from June 29 to July 30.In a letter to Maharashtra chief electoral officer S Chockalingam, state Congress president Harshvardhan Sapkal said devotees going to Pandharpur for Ashadhi Ekadashi would be away during the revision exercise when BLOs will distribute and collect enumeration forms.Senior election officials said a final decision on the request rests with the ECI. They pointed out that it was unlikely that entire families would be away when booth-level officers visit during the verification process. They added that the ECI may consider extending the exercise if time is required to ensure that all eligible voters are covered.The Congress argued that lakhs of warkaris from more than 20 districts across western Maharashtra, Marathwada and Vidarbha would be away from home during the verification period, increasing the possibility of eligible voters being left out of the electoral rolls.Sapkal urged election authorities to defer the exercise by a month to ensure that no eligible voter is inconvenienced or excluded from the electoral rolls because of the pilgrimage or adverse weather conditions.
