New Delhi

Refuting the claims made by senior Congress leader P Chidambaram on the Special Intensive Revision (SIR), the Election Commission of India on Sunday said that assertions made by the former finance minister on the "inclusion" of "migrant voters" in Tamil Nadu are "misleading" and "baseless".

The poll body responded to P Chidambaram's claim that there has been an addition of approximately 6.5 lakh migrant workers to the electoral roll in Tamil Nadu. ECI pointed out that "false figures" are being floated about "enrollment of 6.5 lakh voters" in Tamil Nadu.

In a post on X, ECI said, "There is no need for political leaders to spread false information with respect to the SIR exercise being conducted by ECI at the national level. It has come to the notice of the ECI that such information is being deliberately peddled in the media with a view to obstructing the exercise. As far as voters who have permanently shifted from Bihar to other states and are ordinarily resident in those states, the exact figures can be known only after the SIR has been conducted."

The poll body stated that as of now, the SIR exercise has not been initiated in Tamil Nadu. "It is therefore absurd to connect the SIR exercise in Bihar with TN. Such peddling of false statements with respect to SIR should be avoided."

Election Commission also stated that a person originally belonging to Tamil Nadu, but is ordinarily residing in Delhi, is entitled to be registered as an Elector in Delhi.

"Similarly, a person originally belonging to Bihar, but is ordinarily residing in Chennai, is entitled to be registered as an Elector in Chennai," stated ECI, referring to Section 20 of the Representation of the People Act, 1950, which gives the meaning of "Ordinary Resident".

Earlier in the day, the Senior Congress leader had criticised the ECI over the 'reports' of the addition of approximately 6.5 lakh migrant workers to Tamil Nadu's electoral rolls and called it "alarming" and "patently illegal."

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Amid the claims over the deletion of names from the voters' list in Bihar, the Election Commission of India (ECI) on Sunday said that not a single claim or objection has been filed by any political party since the publication of the draft electoral rolls on August 1.