India, June 26 -- The Election Commission of India (ECI)'s decision to undertake a special intensive revision (SIR) of the electoral roll across India, beginning with Bihar, comes against the backdrop of mounting controversy over the role of the poll watchdog in high-profile elections. ECI said on Tuesday that it had decided to weed out ineligible names from the electoral roll, citing rapid urbanisation, frequent migration, young citizens becoming eligible to vote, non-reporting of deaths, and the inclusion of the names of foreign illegal immigrants as some of the motivations for the house-to-house verification exercise. People whose names didn't figure in the rolls in 2003, the last time the SIR took place in the state, will have to provide a self-attested declaration that they are Indian citizens, and back it up with documented proof of their birth. Polls are due in Bihar later this year. The sanctity of the electoral roll is of paramount importance in a constitutional system, and it is commendable that as the custodian of the world's largest democracy, ECI is taking steps to ensure that no ineligible person slips into the process. But the background of the exercise - where Opposition parties have been alleging irregular changes in the electoral roll in Maharashtra even though the poll body has denied it - is equally important. ECI will have to ensure that the process remains transparent and doesn't disenfranchise the poorest and most vulnerable. ECI will also need to ensure that the SIR process is not mired in partisan politics. The process has the potential to further bolster the Indian citizen's most zealously guarded right - the vote....