New Delhi, Oct 28 (IANS) As the Election Commission of India (ECI) launched the second phase of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voter lists in 12 states and Union Territories including poll-bound Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Kerala, and Puducherry, BJP on Tuesday criticised the INDIA Bloc, saying some people have made it a habit to create “imaginary confusion” and engage in “criminal conspiracy” against every reform undertaken in the nation’s interest.

“The campaign for purification of voter lists should not turn into any kind of political lynching; that is not in the nation’s interest. Some people have now made it a habit to create imaginary confusion and engage in criminal conspiracy against every reform or initiative taken for the country’s welfare,” BJP leader Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi told IANS.

He further added, “They only try to create confusion, spread fear, and politicise the process. But they will not gain from it. The SIR is a legitimate process aimed at purifying voter lists, identifying illegal voters and protecting genuine ones. This is not the first time such a revision is taking place; it is a regular exercise to ensure fairness and transparency in the electoral system.”

Briefing the media about the voter revision exercise, Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar on Monday congratulated the polling officials as well as electors for a successful SIR in Bihar and explained in detail the procedure and rationale of undertaking the ‘purification drive’, from time to time.

The CEC said that since Independence, the SIR has been undertaken in the country as many as 8 times, between 1951 to 2004, and the last one took place in 2004. He added that political parties have been repeatedly urging it to conduct voter verification to ensure only legitimate voters participate in the electoral process.

He said that it is essential to clean the electoral rolls after every few years because of reasons like voter duplication, removal of names of those who have either passed away or have permanently shifted out of the poll-bound state.