Bengal SIR exercise: BJP calls for caution over accepting birth certificates as identity documents
Kolkata, Nov 3 – The first phase of West Bengal’s three‑stage voter‑registration drive, called the Special Intensive Revision (SIR), is set to kick off on Tuesday. A key concern for the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is the use of birth certificates as proof of identity during the overhaul.
The BJP sent a letter to the Election Commission of India (ECI) on Monday, listing several safeguards it wants in place. The top item on the list is a new rule around birth certificates. The party says that after the ECI began accepting birth certificates, the state saw a sharp rise in delayed registrations. The BJP claims that many certificates are back‑dated and may be issued with the help of local officials and party workers.
To stop this, the BJP urges the ECI to reject any birth certificate issued in West Bengal after 24 June 2025 unless a booth‑level officer confirms each one on the ground. The party stresses that without a local check the certificates could be fake or doctored.
The BJP also wants extra scrutiny for permanent residence certificates. The party notes that many of these are issued by local authorities that the BJP says are “under the control of political functionaries.” According to the communique, some certificates seem to rely only on one‑time use cards like Aadhaar or EPIC, whose authenticity is already questioned. The BJP therefore insists that only certificates signed by a Group‑A officer— a senior officer in the civil service— should be accepted. It also wants each certificate sent back to the issuing office for a quick confirmation.
Caste certificates are another point of contention. The BJP asks the Commission not to accept them as proof of identity without a proper enquiry. For OBC‑A certificates dated between 2011 and 2024 the party wants them excluded from the list of acceptable documents until a final court ruling is made.
The three‑stage SIR is intended to clear out outdated voter rolls and add new voters. However, the BJP’s letter highlights growing worries about potential fraud and errors in West Bengal’s voter‑registration process. If the ECI follows the BJP’s recommendations, it could tighten checks on the documents that determine who can vote, which is a big deal as West Bengal holds one of the country’s most contested elections.
Source: ianslive
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