Bihar Voter Roll: 65.2 Lakh Names Excluded

• Bihar’s Special Intensive Revision (SIR) phase one completed, with 65.2 lakh voters likely to be excluded.
• Reasons for exclusion include 22 lakh deceased, 35 lakh shifted, 7 lakh duplicates, and 1.2 lakh unsubmitted forms.
• Opposition parties are protesting, alleging the rushed process is aimed at helping the ruling coalition before Assembly elections.

GG News Bureau
Patna, 25th July: The first phase of Bihar’s Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise, aimed at cleaning up electoral rolls, has concluded with approximately 65.2 lakh voter names likely to be excluded. Data released by the Election Commission (EC) on Friday, the final day for submitting enumeration forms, indicates that this figure includes 22 lakh deceased voters, 35 lakh who have permanently shifted outside Bihar, 7 lakh enrolled at multiple locations, and 1.2 lakh who are yet to submit their forms.

The Election Commission stated that 99.8% of Bihar’s 7.9 crore electors have been covered, with forms from 7.23 crore electors received and digitized for inclusion in the draft electoral roll. The EC has clarified that eligible voters whose names are currently left out can still be added by filling prescribed forms during the next phase, which runs from August 1 to September 1. Political parties are also allowed to file objections for the removal of ineligible voters during this period.

The SIR exercise has drawn strong criticism from the Opposition, who allege that the rushed process, occurring just before the Bihar Assembly elections, is designed to benefit the ruling coalition. Opposition parties staged protests in Parliament for the fifth consecutive day, disrupting both Houses. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, during a protest, asserted, “They (the Centre) intend to deprive the poor of their voting rights and let only the elite vote. They are not abiding by the Constitution.”

In response, the Election Commission has defended the exercise, stating its necessity due to the last such comprehensive revision being conducted in 2003. The EC has repeatedly assured the public that no eligible voter will be excluded from the final list.