PANAJI: South Goa MP Viriato Fernandes has received a notice from the Election Commission of India (ECI) asking him to appear with documents to prove his identity to retain his name on the electoral roll, raising fresh questions over the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voters’ lists.
Fernandes said the notice comes despite him having undergone what he described as the “highest level of scrutiny” during the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, when every candidate’s credentials were verified before being cleared to contest.
“I have received a notice from the ECI asking me to appear with documents to prove my identity to retain my name on the electoral roll. This is despite the fact that during the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, every contestant, including me, was subjected to the highest level of scrutiny before being allowed to contest,” Fernandes said.
Recalling his long voting history, the MP said he has been a registered voter since 1989, after the voting age was lowered to 18 under the late Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi.
“I have been voting since 1989. During my 26 years of service in the Indian Navy, I travelled to Goa multiple times from far-off postings just to exercise my right to vote, whether for Lok Sabha, Assembly, Panchayat or Zilla Panchayat elections,” he said.
Expressing concern over the broader implications of the notice, Fernandes questioned the impact of the SIR exercise on ordinary citizens.
“If a sitting Member of Parliament can be subjected to this kind of scrutiny, one can only imagine what a common citizen is facing. This only reinforces the concerns raised by Opposition parties, NGOs and citizens that the SIR process is being used to delete names of legitimate voters and prevent them from participating in the democratic process,” Fernandes added.
