India, July 30 -- The dust and din raised by the special intensive revision (SIR) of the electoral roll in Bihar is continuing amidst the Supreme Court's constructive interventions to avoid the potential exclusion of many voters for want of the documents demanded by the Election Commission of India (ECI). Now comes the news that the poll body is taking steps in Delhi, Manipur and West Bengal to conduct SIRs to weed out possible discrepancies in their respective electoral rolls. A foolproof electoral roll is essential to uphold the sanctity of the electoral process, no doubt, but the intent has to be "mass inclusion" of voters, as the Court reminded ECI.

Universal adult franchise is the centrepiece of Indian democracy. Election is mostly ...