Political parties in Kerala on Saturday registered their protest against the Election Commission of India’s (EC) delay in resolving issues related to the registration of foreign-born citizens under the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral roll.
This matter relates to the mandatory field ‘Place of Birth’ in Form 6A (For Foreign Electors) which is limited to Indian states. The Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) has consistently raised the issue at weekly political party meetings convened by Chief Electoral Officer Rathan U. Kelkar, pointing out that this configuration makes it impossible for foreign-born Indian citizens to fill out the application accurately.
There are 5.5 lakh Keralites who are facing this problem, IUML state secretary Mohammed Shah said at a meeting convened by Mr. Kelkar on Saturday. “No action has been taken so far. We have also given this complaint in writing. Minutes of six previous meetings will show that I have raised the issue here,” Mr Shah said.
complaint of the member of parliament
IUML MP in Rajya Sabha Haris Beeran also raised the issue in a written complaint to the CEO. Mr. Beeran wanted the EC to include the option of “Born outside India” in the list for selecting a state.
According to Mr. Shah, there are 20 million potential overseas voters from the state, but only 70,000 have applied so far. Mr. Shah said that if the EC does not resolve the issues related to overseas voters, political parties will be forced to address it politically.
Mr. Kelkar told the meeting that the “place of birth” issue has been taken up with the EC and indications are that it will be addressed soon.
Published – 03 Jan 2026 20:57 IST
