ITANAGAR, Oct 19: Arunachal Pradesh BJP general secretary Tadar Niglar on Monday called for strengthening the party organisation at the grassroots level and defended the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, describing it as an essential process to ensure accuracy and transparency in elections.
Niglar was speaking at the Extended District Executive Meeting of the BJP’s East Kameng district unit at Seppa, where he interacted with party functionaries and workers from all four mandals of the district.
Emphasising organisational discipline and coordination, he urged party workers to intensify grassroots activities and strengthen engagement with the public.
On the SIR, Niglar said electoral roll revision was a structured exercise governed by the provisions of the Representation of the People Act, 1950, and should not be portrayed as an arbitrary process. He said the objective was to ensure that all eligible citizens were registered as voters while removing duplicate and ineligible entries through due verification.
Explaining the procedure, he said political parties were asked to appoint Booth Level Agents (BLAs) before the exercise, with training provided in coordination with Booth Level Officers (BLOs) and election officials. The process includes the distribution and submission of enumeration forms, verification of voter details, publication of draft electoral rolls, and opportunities to file claims, objections and corrections through the prescribed forms.
He added that hearings were conducted wherever required before publication of the final electoral roll. Referring to his party’s training programmes for BLA-1 and BLA-2, Niglar said BJP workers had been familiarised with the process and its procedures.
Citing figures in support of his argument, he claimed that around 13.30 crore names had been deleted from electoral rolls during the ongoing revision exercise, including entries relating to deceased voters, people who had shifted, duplicate registrations and untraceable voters.
Niglar criticised protests against the SIR by the Cockroach Janata Party (CJP) and the Opposition parties, including the Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party, accusing them of politicising the exercise instead of engaging constructively with the electoral process. He questioned whether removing duplicate entries and verifying voter eligibility could be considered objectionable.
He maintained that electoral roll revision must protect the rights of genuine voters while ensuring that electoral rolls remain accurate and free from duplicate and ineligible entries.
Niglar urged BJP workers to explain the objectives and procedures of the SIR to the public and promote awareness about the importance of accurate electoral rolls in safeguarding the integrity of the democratic process.