Opposition slams EC over special intensive revision of electoral rolls

Congress and its allies accuse the Election Commission of attempting to disenfranchise voters in Bihar ahead of the assembly elections, demanding that it not act on the ruling party's behest

The Congress, along with its allies such as the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and Left parties, on Thursday launched a fresh attack on the Election Commission (EC) over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in poll-bound Bihar, accusing the poll body of conspiring to deprive 20 per cent of the population of their voting rights, and asked it not to act at the behest of the ruling party.

 

Addressing a press conference here, Congress' media and publicity department head Pawan Khera said the EC should act within the limits set by the Constitution and be a "slave" to democracy and voters, not the BJP. On Wednesday, leaders of several INDIA bloc parties met the EC over the SIR issue and raised concerns over its timing, alleging that over 20 million voters in the state could be disenfranchised by this mammoth exercise being conducted just ahead of the assembly elections.

 

The Election Commission on Thursday said it had met representatives of various political parties on Wednesday and heard their concerns, issues, and queries raised by them, and "decoded for them the entire special intensive revision". The EC told the parties that the exercise is being held in a planned, structured, and phased manner to facilitate the inclusion of all eligible citizens.

 

In the first phase, from June 25 to July 3, enumeration forms are being printed and distributed to the approximately 79 million electors in Bihar. In the second phase, the enumeration forms will be filled and are to be submitted before July 25. Electors whose names appear in the electoral roll as of January 1, 2003, are only required to submit the enumeration forms along with an extract of the roll. They don't have to submit any other documents. Those not listed in the 2003 roll will need to submit one of 11 documents for their date of birth/place of birth. In the fourth phase, the draft electoral roll will be published on August 1. The final electoral roll will be published on September 30.