ECI to Delete 61 Lakh Voters from Bihar Rolls

• The Election Commission of India plans to remove 61.1 lakh voters from Bihar’s electoral rolls.
• This is part of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise, with a deadline for form submission nearing.
• Over 7.21 crore enumeration forms have been submitted, covering 99% of electors.

GG News Bureau
Patna, 24th July: The Election Commission of India (ECI) announced on Thursday that approximately 61.1 lakh voters are slated for removal from Bihar’s electoral rolls as part of the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise, just a day before the deadline for enumeration form submissions.

The ECI stated that its officials have successfully reached out to 99% of Bihar’s 7.9 crore electors, with 7.21 crore enumeration forms already submitted and digitized. Only 7 lakh voters have yet to return their forms.

Of the 61.1 lakh names identified for deletion, the Election Commission detailed that 21.6 lakh are deceased, 31.5 lakh have permanently relocated outside Bihar, 7 lakh are registered in multiple locations, and 1 lakh are untraceable. If this figure holds, it translates to an average of 25,144 names per constituency across Bihar’s 243 Assembly seats. This significant deletion is expected to heavily impact the upcoming Assembly elections, likely within months, given the narrow victory margins observed in numerous seats during the last polls. In the 2020 elections, 11 seats were decided by less than 1,000 votes, 35 by less than 3,000 votes, and 52 by less than 5,000 votes.

The opposition Grand Alliance, including the RJD and Congress, has vehemently opposed this exercise, labeling it rushed. They lost 27 constituencies by under 5,000 votes in 2020, 18 seats by less than 3,000 votes, and six with margins under 1,000 votes. Parties within the INDIA bloc have also protested in Parliament, accusing the ECI of irregularities.

Opposition leader Rahul Gandhi criticized the poll body, asserting, “If you think you will get away with it, you are wrong.” He claimed to possess “100% proof of the Election Commission allowing cheating in a seat in Karnataka,” suggesting a pattern of new votes being added while old ones are deleted across constituencies.

The ECI dismissed these claims as “baseless,” stating that instead of adhering to due process under Section 80 of the Representation of the People Act, 1951 (which pertains to election petitions), Mr. Gandhi chose to make public accusations and threats against a constitutional body.