Congress raises voter deletion and delimitation concerns
Stanford India Conference
Speaking at the Stanford India Conference in California, Congress MP Shashi Tharoor expressed grave reservations about the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process. BJP leaders K. Annamalai and Tejasvi Surya also took part in the discussion on governance, elections and regional representation.
Tharoor claimed that authorities removed nearly 91 lakh names from voter lists in West Bengal during the SIR process. Moreover, around 34 lakh people appealed, stating they were genuine voters. According to him, delays in verification prevented many eligible citizens from voting. Therefore, he questioned whether the election outcome remained fully fair and democratic.
Furthermore, Tharoor argued that population growth in northern states could create political imbalance in the future. He stated that MPs from northern India already represent far more people than MPs from southern states. As a result, southern states may eventually feel politically sidelined after delimitation.
In addition, he warned that repeated attempts to promote Hindi as a national language could trigger strong opposition in southern India, especially in Tamil-speaking regions.
However, BJP leader Annamalai defended the current system. He said Census figures justify greater representation for northern states because of their larger populations.
Meanwhile, Tharoor also questioned whether a massive state like Uttar Pradesh should remain administratively unchanged with a population of nearly 28 crore people. He recalled that former Chief Minister Mayawati had earlier proposed dividing the state into four separate regions.
