Almost more than 35 lakh names will be de-selected in the electoral roll in Bihar due to the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) now being implemented as speculated by opposition parties.
The Election Commission (EC) has shown that up to this point, 6.6 crores electors have filed their enumeration forms. And that constitutes 88.18 percent of the total state voters. Vote are given time to hand in their forms up until July 25 after which the draft electoral roll be published.
The EC posted the new figures quoting that 1.59 per cent of the voters or 12.5 lakh is a number that includes voters who were found to be dead yet their names have been registered in the list. A proportion of 2.2 per cent or 17.5 lakh voters have permanently migrated out of Bihar and thus they cannot vote in the state. A total of 0.73 per cent or 5.5 lakh had been found to have registered twice.
These findings taken collectively show that nearly 35.5 lakh voters who are already registered in the voters list of Bihar will be wiped off. This is well over and above 4.5 per cent of the total electorate, a huge shake-up before this and other future elections.
To further commit the controversy, the EC also disclosed that on the field visits, there were some foreign nationals- Nepal, Bangladesh and Myanmar among others, who were found to be registered as voters.
They will also clear these names after additional verification.
The SIR is being undertaken to purge the voter list, according to EC officials, to match with current realities embarked on migration and death as well as duplicate registrations. They reiterated that the object is to keep the purity and accuracy of the electoral roll before the 2025 Assembly election in Bihar.
The process has however come hard on opposition leaders.
Earlier, RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav had issued a dire warning to the effect that 3200 names would be dropped in each section even with the exclusion of 1 per cent of voters in the constituency. As the percentage moves past the 5 per cent mark, there is underlying concern on the changes that the revision would make on the electoral outcome.
The issue is further an object of investigation by the Supreme Court which is already hearing the petitions connected with the SIR. During its previous hearing, the court had counseled the EC the use of Aadhaar cards, ration cards and voter ID cards to conduct verification of voters properly.
The hearing is set on July 28.
The revision process is emerging as a politically sensitive matter in Bihar as the EC tries to beat the clock to come out with the draft roll in the next 11 days. With a lakhs number of names on the chopping block and the new wave of suspicions being cast on the eligibility of voters, the big question now is how this all important process of elimination will pan out in the coming days.
Bihar Survey Finds Many Voters From Nepal, Bangladesh, Myanmar: Sources
A large number of those who have come to the poll-bound state of Bihar originally as Nepalese, Bangladeshis and Myanmar nationals are found to be staying there at present as part of the door-to-door survey conducted in the voter lists of Bihar by the Election Commission as a Special Intensive Revision (SIR), sources in the poll body have said.
According to the sources those individuals somehow eluded the issuers to secure Indian documents like the Aadhaar, domicile certificates, and the ration cards in their own name, allegedly using illegal means.
Block Level Officers, who are conducting the door to door survey have listed down several such people and such cases will be investigated during the period August 1 to 30. The names of these voters will be deleted in voter list in case the allegations are proved, the sources said.
The project is also expected to fuel further the heated controversy in the poll bound state regarding the continuous updating of voter list months before the Assembly election.
The Special Intensive Revision that was launched June 24 will be used to put the names of eligible citizens in the voter list and the removal of ineligible voters. Bihar was revised last in the year 2003. The Election Commission has cited several factors that necessiate the revision which include: high rate of urbanisation, regular migration, youths achieving age to register as voters, non-registration of deaths and the entry of names of foreign illegal immigrants.
Opposition has questioned the time format concerning the exercise and indicated that it will not be over before the elections. The RJD and the Congress have further accused that the Special intensive Revision was a conspiracy to wilfully exclude the voters. The BJP and retaliated and asked why the Opposition was hurt when they wanted to check veracity of real vote and evict bogus ones.
The case has come to the Supreme Court. Several petitions against modification of voter lists by the poll body have been lodged. These petitioners include Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) MP Manoj Jha, poll watchdog Association for Democratic Reforms, rights body People Union of Civil Liberties, activist Yogendra Yadav, Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra and former MLA Mujahid Alam.
Such concerns as when the exercise should take place and the documentation that will be accepted raised their heads in the top court hearing on Thursday. Following the argument by Election Commission that Aadhaar is not a piece of citizenship evidence, the court indicated that Aadhaar, ration cards, and an identity card printed by Election Commission be held as valid pieces of evidence to re-check the identity of voters. The exercise is not suspended by the court.
According to the court, it is seriously doubted that the poll body can finish the job by the time of the election without disenfranchising the genuine voters and without giving any individual the opportunity to appeal.
It is not exercise that is the problem… it is the timing. We lack confidence in regard to your ability to handle this exercise. Where there is a huge population (estimated at eight crores) under this so-called intensive review, can we say that this has anything to do with the upcoming election? Asked the court, “.a person will lose his/her right to vote before the election and s/he will lack the time to challenge the exclusion before the election takes place.” It did not say there was anything wrong in this intensive process so that non-citizen do not remain on rolls… but it is something that must be de hors (i.e., outside of) this election, it added.
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