Amid allegations by opposition parties of illegal voter deletion from Bihar’s electoral list during the ongoing special intensive revision, more than 87 percent of the claims and objections submitted to the Election
Commission of India were for name deletions rather than additions.
Out of the total 2.41 lakh claims and objections received by the Election Commission (EC) till Sunday (August 31), only 33,351 were for name additions while 2,07,668 were for deletions.
When the draft electoral list was issued on August 1, the EC removed more than 65 lakh names of individuals who were either deceased, missing, or registered at multiple places. It allowed a month, until September 1, for anyone to raise claims and objections regarding the draft, which covered over 7.24 crore of the 7.89 crore registered voters in Bihar. It has further assured that no name will be deleted from this draft without a speaking order after conducting an inquiry and providing a fair and reasonable opportunity.
Opposition parties have been alleging that the deletion of 65 lakh names was illegal. Last week, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said the 65 lakh people whose names were deleted from Bihar’s electoral rolls belonged to the poor and socially weaker sections of society. His party has not filed any claims and objections to date.
Till Sunday, 128 claims and objections were submitted by political parties to the EC, with 80 percent (103) for name deletions and only 25 for name additions.
The Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) submitted 10 forms for name inclusion, while 15 were from the CPI (ML) Liberation. All 103 requests for name deletions were from the CPI (ML) Liberation, as per EC data.
When a political party submits any claim or objection, the BLAs appointed by them must add a declaration. Complaints without declarations are not considered from the party.
Both electors and non-electors can file objections. Non-electors of an assembly constituency need to file specific objections along with a declaration or oath.
Local voters can challenge the inclusion of names they believe are ineligible in the draft rolls or request the inclusion of names they feel have been left out but meet the criteria to be a voter in that area.
As of Sunday, 2.41 lakh complaints were received from the public. Only 33,326 were for inclusion, while 2.07 lakh (86%) were for exclusion.
Monday is the last day to file claims and objections for the SIR draft roll, with the final roll to be published on September 30.
ALSO READ | Bihar Electoral ‘Roll Call’: Draft List By August 1 And Final Version On September 30, Says ECI
WHAT WILL HAPPEN AFTER SEPTEMBER 1?
While the window for claims and objections will close after Monday, the process of new voter registration will continue until the elections are declared and the nomination process starts.
In the last 30 days since August 1, 15.32 lakh requests for new voter additions have been made to the poll body. Only 45 of these were submitted by political parties, as per the EC.
The poll body will verify the voters’ details over the next couple of weeks before finalising the list towards the end of the month.
The elections in the state are likely to be held around November as the assembly term ends. The addition and deletion of votes in Bihar has become a central issue in the poll campaign and will remain a flashpoint in the coming days.
