- It was clearly stated the Bihar electoral roll list was a draft version, and not the final version, ECI said
- From August 1 to September 1, claims and objections to the draft list are being accepted
- Opposition alleges disenfranchisement; BJP denies and supports the revision for transparency
The Election Commission of India (ECI) has strongly criticised "some persons" for spreading misinformation about the special intensive revision (SIR) exercise that was carried out in Bihar to clean up the electoral rolls. The election to the Bihar assembly is scheduled around November.
The ECI pointed out that the list that recently came out was clearly a draft list, as was mentioned in public. However, some people are trying to give an impression that the draft list was the final list, the ECI said in a statement.
"ECI is not able to understand that when a full one month period from August 1 till September 1 is available to point out wrongful inclusion or wrongful exclusion of any name, why are they creating such a big fuss now," the ECI said in a statement, without naming anyone.
"Why not ask their 1.6 lakh BLAs to submit claims and objections from August 1 till September 1?" the ECI said, referring to booth level agents, or BLAs. "Why are some people trying to give an impression that the draft list is the final list, which it is not, as per SIR orders."
The ECI's statement came on the conclusion of the month-long phase one of Bihar's SIR, where house-to-house surveys were held to distribute semi-filled enumeration forms to the electorate that were to be returned after being filled up.
Enumeration forms from 7.24 crore electors have been received. The ECI said 36 lakh people were found to have either permanently shifted or were not found. It pointed out that seven lakh Bihar electors were found to have been enrolled at multiple places.
Booth-level agents appointed by political parties work with the ECI's booth-level officers in preparing or updating the voters' list.
Opposition parties in the state have claimed that crores of eligible citizens will be disenfranchised during the roll revision for want of documents. They have claimed the ruling BJP will benefit as the state machinery in Bihar will target people opposed to the ruling alliance.
The BJP hit back at the Opposition INDIA bloc parties for their objection to the SIR exercise, alleging they were trying to "rob" Indian democracy on the back of foreign infiltrators.
BJP spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi said the Election Commission's drive is aimed at bringing required changes in electoral rolls through transparency.
He alleged that the INDIA bloc parties have been winning in places where the presence of infiltrators has brought maximum changes in demography.
