Kerala CM flags 25 lakh voter exclusions in SIR draft, urges Election Commission action
Thiruvananthapuram (PTI): Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Friday expressed concern over media reports stating that 25 lakh people have been excluded from the draft voter list being prepared as part of the implementation of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in the state.
In a statement, Vijayan urged the Election Commission to ensure that not a single eligible voter whose name appeared in the voter list during the Special Summary Revision conducted in September 2025 is excluded from the revised list prepared under SIR.
The chief minister alleged that the Election Commission implemented the entire process without adequate transparency. He said that information related to SIR should be made transparent and made available on the website in a manner accessible to political parties and the general public.
His statement came a day after the Election Commission announced the completion of the enumeration phase of the SIR of the electoral roll in Kerala. Addressing a press conference here on Thursday, Chief Electoral Officer Ratan U Kelkar said that 24.81 lakh voters fall under the "untraceable" category, which includes 6.49 lakh deceased voters, 6.89 lakh untraceable voters, 8.21 lakh shifted voters, 1.34 lakh duplicate entries, and 1.86 lakh under other categories.
Vijayan said the worrying aspect is that, apart from the deceased, those who have permanently migrated, cases of duplicate registration, and persons who could not be traced, a large number of deletions are also being made under the vague category of "others".
The chief minister alleged that even the Election Commission itself lacks clarity on who exactly falls under this category of "others".
"There is little doubt that a voter list riddled with flaws is being prepared. The right to vote should not be cancelled for technical reasons. It is a right that must be guaranteed to every adult citizen in a democratic society. Denying this right is equivalent to destroying the very foundation of democracy," Vijayan said.
Noting that in Kerala the SIR process was previously carried out in 2002, the chief minister said that at that time anyone below the age of 18 (that is, those who are below 40 years of age today) was required to prove their family relationship in order to be included in the voter list.
"As this process was not completed, available information indicates that at present around two lakh people per district remain ineligible to be included in the voter list," he said.
He said the Election Commission itself is responsible for the current situation, as it carried out a voter list revision--an exercise that requires long-term preparation and consultation--with unnecessary haste, and that too at a time when local body elections were taking place.
"The government and representatives of political parties had, even at that time, demanded that this hurried and pressure-driven approach, which rushed and burdened BLOs, be reconsidered. However, the Commission chose to move forward with further actions without accepting these demands," Vijayan said.
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He said the Election Commission should take steps to ensure that every last eligible voter in the state is included in the voter list.
"The state government will take all necessary measures to achieve this," Vijayan said, referring to the case filed by the Kerala Government before the Supreme Court in this regard.
"The Supreme Court itself has taken the shortcomings in the voter list revision seriously and has directed that the concerns raised by the state government be addressed. The Election Commission must review the steps taken so far and avoid unnecessary haste," he said.
Instead of excluding voters from the list by citing technical reasons, the foundation of voter list revision should be to include all eligible citizens while upholding democratic values, the chief minister added.
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Andhra to be developed as knowledge, creator economy hub: CM Naidu
New Delhi/Amaravati (PTI): Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu on Friday said the state is taking steps to transform itself into a knowledge and creator economy hub with a strong focus on artificial intelligence and quantum technology.
He noted that Andhra Pradesh has abundant tech-driven youth and the government is formulating plans to train them in futuristic technologies with support from global technology firms.
"Our goal is to transform Andhra Pradesh into a knowledge hub by focusing on AI, quantum computing, data centres, drone cities and space cities. The youth will remain our biggest asset over the next 25 years, and we seek global partnerships to scale up the creator economy," said Naidu during his interactions at the India AI Impact Summit 2026 in Delhi.
Naidu, who participated in the summit in the national capital, also held meetings with several global technology leaders and industrialists to explore collaborations in artificial intelligence, clean energy and innovation ecosystems.
He met Adobe CEO Shantanu Narayen, Autodesk AI Head Mike Haley, Aramco India Director Abdul Rehman AiThukair, LEGO Education Vice President Tom Hall, Aadhaar Founder and CTO Srikanth Nadhamuni, Khosla Ventures Managing Partner Vinod Khosla and others at the AP Pavilion.
The chief minister also held discussions with Saudi Aramco representatives on clean energy projects, including solar initiatives, and invited the company to expand operations in Andhra Pradesh, stating that the state is highly suitable for green energy production.
He sought support from NVIDIA Vice President Callista Redmond for establishing AI Living Labs and proposed partnerships through the Ratan Tata Innovation Hub to promote youth innovation, including collaborations with IIT Tirupati and Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER) Tirupati under the Andhra Pradesh Future Innovation and Research for Science and Technology (AP FIRST) initiative.
Naidu urged Autodesk leadership to support the development of Global Capability Centres in design engineering and requested the establishment of an Innovation Academy in Amaravati aligned with quantum technology, besides proposing AI and robotics learning labs in partnership with LEGO Education.
He also discussed AI-driven smart governance solutions with Quantela Inc Chairman Sridhar Gadhi, while World Bank Group Digital AI Regional Director Mahesh Uttamchandani met Naidu on the sidelines of the summit.
Following the meetings, Naidu visited various exhibition stalls at the summit, including those of NVIDIA, Tata, Intel and Microsoft, and reviewed AI applications across agriculture, healthcare and industry.
