First round of Bihar roll revision ends, 65L face risk of deletion

As the first round of the controversial special intensive revision (SIR) in Bihar ended on Saturday, there is a risk of 65 lakh names getting deleted from the electoral roll. During the first phase, the Election Commission (EC) collected enumeration forms from 7.24 crore (91.69%) of the total 7.89 crore voters.

From the data, the EC found 65 lakh voters ineligible, among them 36 lakh (4.50%) having either permanently shifted or not found (4.59%), seven lakh (0.89%) enrolling themselves at multiple places and 22 lakh (2.83%) deceased.

The findings are likely to create fresh political uproar once the draft roll comes out on August 1.

Between July 27 and July 31, the poll body will prepare the draft roll having names of all existing electors who have submitted their duly filled enumeration forms. On August 1, the EC will publish the draft electoral roll, and between August 1 and September 1, voters will be given an opportunity to file claims and objections.

The final electoral roll will be published on September 30.

Aiming to allay the voters’ fear of deletion of their names from the electoral roll, the EC, in a statement issued on Sunday, said no deletion from the draft electoral roll would be done without a speaking order.

“As per para 5(b) of the SIR guidelines, no name can be deleted from the draft list published on August 1 without notice and speaking order of the Electoral Registration Officer (ERO)/Assistant ERO. Any elector aggrieved by any decision of the ERO may appeal to the District Magistrate and the Chief Electoral Officer under Section 24 of the Representation of People’s Act, 1950," it said.

Ever since the SIR process kicked off in Bihar on June 25, it has raked up a political storm, with the RJD and the Congress calling it an effort by the EC to systematically remove poor, Dalit, migrant and backward voters from the electoral roll of the poll-bound state.

The issue got more political traction as the EC had indicated in its order while announcing the SIR in Bihar that it will also be initiating a similar exercise across the country, for which the details will be made public at an appropriate time.

The Opposition, led by the Congress, has also alleged that the poll panel was favouring the ruling BJP by initiating the SIR in the politically crucial state.

The first week of the ongoing monsoon session of Parliament was washed out without conducting much business, as the INDIA bloc sought a rollback of the SIR in Bihar.

On its part, the EC has been denying the Opposition’s allegations, saying that it was strictly going by the provisions of the Representation of People’s Act.

EC sources said when a full one month (from August 1 to September 1) was available to point out wrongful inclusion or wrongful exclusion of any name, why were parties creating a big fuss.

“Why not ask their 1.6 lakh booth-level assistants to submit claims and objections and why are some persons trying to give the impression that the draft list is the final list," an EC source asked.

The poll panel said the first aim of the SIR was to ensure participation of all electors and all parties.

“Of the 7.89 crore electors as of June 24, over 7.24 crore have submitted their enumeration forms, indicating overwhelming participation," it said.

The second aim of the exercise was to ensure that no eligible elector in Bihar should be left behind, it said further.

“SMSs, explaining the SIR process, were sent to 5.7 crore registered mobile numbers of all those electors who had registered their mobile numbers," it said.

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