The Election Commission has completed the first phase of Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Bihar ahead of the upcoming assembly elections. Over 65 lakh names have been removed from the voter list after the exercise.
According to the EC, more than 7.24 crore electors filled out enumeration forms and have been included in the updated draft roll. Prior to the revision, the total number of registered voters stood at 7.89 crore.
The poll panel said the reduction in voter count is attributed to several factors, including deaths, duplicate registrations across locations, permanent migration out of Bihar and untraceable individuals.
The exercise has attracted massive outrage as the Opposition parties have alleged that the EC deliberately removed the names at the behest of the BJP. The INDIA bloc MPs also initiated an ardent protest in Parliament, seeking a debate over the issue during the Monsoon Session.
Bengal next for SIR?
Opposition parties now fear the Election Commission was preparing for yet another SIR process, this time in West Bengal, where polls are slated next year. The voter list revision was last done in Bengal in 2002.
Amid such speculations, the 2002 voters’ list of some districts appeared online on the website of the State’s Chief Electoral Officer (CEO). A special training programme for Assistant Electoral Registration Officers (AEROs), Supervisors and Booth Level Officers (BLOs) of Howrah, Kolkata North, Kolkata South, Nadia, North 24 Parganas and South 24 Parganas further insinuated that the EC was indeed mulling SIR in Bengal.
Suvendu Adhikari claims presence of '1 crore illegal Rohingya, Bangladeshi Muslims'
BJP leader and West Bengal Assembly LoP Suvendu Adhikari on Sunday claimed there were one crore Rohingya immigrants and Bangladeshi Muslim voters in West Bengal, seeking a voter list revision on the lines of Bihar.
Adhikari made this statement while walking along with party workers during the Kanya Suraksha Yatra in Howrah.
"There are nearly one crore Rohingya immigrants, Bangladeshi Muslim voters, deceased voters, duplicate entries, and fake voters in West Bengal. The Election Commission of India should remove these names to ensure the credibility of the voter list,” he said.
TMC MP claims Bengal next 'target' of SIR
Trinamool Congress MP Sagarika Ghose, while speaking to a media outlet, alleged ‘conspiracy to target voters’ in West Bengal through SIR. Ghose said the exercise was exclusionary and not an inclusionary and the TMC will oppose it.
Mahua Moitra moves SC to restrain EC from conducting SIR in other states
TMC MP Mahua Moitra had moved the Supreme Court against the voter list revision in Bihar. In her plea, Moitra also sought directions for the Election Commission to restrain similar exercises in the other states.
