&w=3840&q=100)
Explained: Why Bihar's electoral roll revision is sparking debate Election Commission
A new controversy has gripped Bihar over the Election Commission's recently announced Special Intensive Revision. Critics argue that the exercise has the potential to exclude lakhs of voters in the state. Opposition parties and civil society groups like PUCL and the Association for Democratic Reforms have even approached the Supreme Court to challenge the move. Watch the video to understand what Bihar's electoral roll revision entails, why the EC believes it's necessary, and what the major criticisms are.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
India Gazette
an hour ago
- India Gazette
"Election Commission works for BJP only": Congress' Chennithala vows to fight Bihar's SIR in court
New Delhi [India], July 8 (ANI): Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala, on Tuesday, alleged that the Election Commission is in favour of and works for the BJP. Citing the example of Bihar, Chennithala claimed that two crore new voters have been added in the state before the Assembly polls. Speaking to ANI, the Congress leader emphasised that they will fight the issue in the court as it is very important to bring transparency to the election. 'Our leader, Rahul Gandhi, told everyone clearly how 75 lakh votes were added. Rahul Gandhi has put the evidence in front of the Election Commission of all the misdeeds the opposition party have committed to defeat the Maha Vikas Aghadi in Maharashtra. However, the election commission is in favour of the BJP and works for them only. There is a recent example of Bihar, where two crore new voters have been added... We will take this to court and fight against it. It is very important to bring transparency to the election,' Chennithala said. Since the announcement of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, the opposition parties have raised their concerns. RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav on Monday claimed that those who do not have any of the 11 documents asked for verification, their names will be 'removed' from the electoral roll list. Congress leader Randeep Surjewala asked whether it is 'democracy' of BJP's 'vote suppression mechanism'. AIMIM MP Asaduddin Owaisi also warned that lakhs of people in Bihar could lose their citizenship and livelihoods if the Election Commission proceeds with its Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls without adequate time and safeguards. Meanwhile, the Supreme Court has agreed to hear on July 10 a batch of pleas challenging the Election Commission of India's (ECI) move to conduct a Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in poll-bound Bihar. A bench of Justices Sudhanshu Dhulia and Joymalya Bagchi agreed to list the matter on Thursday and allowed the parties to give advance notice of the petitions to the Election Commission of India and serve copies of the petitions. Earlier, Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar underlined the importance of carrying out a revision of the electoral rolls, saying that the poll panel has constantly held meetings with thousands of representatives of political parties, who had expressed dissatisfaction with the current state of the electoral rolls. 'During the past 4 months, all 4,123 EROs, all 775 DEOs and all 36 CEOs have held nearly 5,000 meetings with 28,000 political party representatives. ECI has also invited all Recognised political parties for interaction. No one was satisfied with the current status of electoral rolls for one reason or the other,' the CEC said. Bihar elections are expected to be held later this year in October or November; however, the Election Commission of India (ECI) has not yet announced the dates. While the NDA, consisting of the BJP, JD(U), and LJP, will once again be looking to continue their stint in Bihar, the INDIA bloc, consisting of the RJD, Congress, and left parties, will be looking to unseat Nitish Kumar. Prashant Kishore has presented his party, Jan Suraaj, as another alternative in the state. In the current Bihar Assembly of 243 members, the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) consists of 131 with the BJP having 80 MLAs, JD(U)-45, HAM(S)-4, with the support of 2 Independent candidates. The Opposition's INDIA Bloc has a strength of 111 members with RJD leading with 77 MLAs, Congress-19, CPI(ML)-11, CPI(M)-2 and CPI-2. (ANI)
India Gazette
an hour ago
- India Gazette
Bihar SIR form collection touches nearly half-way mark in 14 days; 17 more days to go: ECI
New Delhi [India], July 8 (ANI): Going by the progress of SIR (Special Intensive Revision) till 6 PM on July 08, it is most likely that the exercise of collection of Enumeration Forms will be completed well before the last day of collection, i.e. July 25, a press release from the Election Commission of India said. The Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in Bihar is progressing well, with 3,70,77,077 Enumeration Forms, which is 46.95 per cent of the total of 7,89,69,844 (nearly 7.90 crore) electors in Bihar, collected (at 6:00 PM) in the first 14 days since the issuance of SIR instructions on June 24. In the first two weeks of the exercise, 7.90 crore forms were printed, and over 97 per cent of forms (7,70,44,990) were distributed to electors. Also, 18.16 per cent of the forms have been uploaded to the ECINET. A large number of prospective electors prefer to submit the Enumeration Forms along with the eligibility documents as specified in SIR order dated 24.06.25 Now, the effort is to collect the remaining half of the enumeration forms and eligibility documents with still 17 more days before July 25. In the last 24 hours, i.e. from 6.00 PM yesterday, 82,78,617 Enumeration Forms have been collected, which amounts to 10.5 per cent collected in a single day. Maintaining the same momentum on the field and with just about 50 per cent of forms remaining to be collected, the exercise could be completed well within time. With the addition of 20,603 Booth Level Officers (BLOs) on the ground, the collection effort has been further expedited. Already, 77,895 BLOs have been going house-to-house to help the electors fill out their Enumeration Forms and collect them. BLOs have already completed the first of their mandated three visits to each household and the second visit is underway. Nearly 4 lakh volunteers, including government officials, NCC cadets, NSS members, etc., are also working in the field to facilitate the elderly, PwD, sick and vulnerable populations in the SIR process. Besides, EROs covering all 243 ACs, 963 AEROs, 38 DEOs, and the CEO of the state are at the ground level to facilitate the electors to submit their forms. District Presidents of all recognised political parties have also stepped up the appointment of Booth Level Agents (BLAs) and they are actively participating on the ground. As of date, 1,56,626 BLAs have been appointed, up from 1,38,680 at the beginning of the exercise. They can, even now, appoint more BLAs as per 25.2.1 of the Manual on Electoral Rolls. (ANI)
Time of India
2 hours ago
- Time of India
Plea in SC seeks special roll revision before every election
New Delhi: A plea seeking directions to the Election Commission , the Centre and state governments to conduct Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls at regular intervals has been filed in the Supreme Court . The petitioner, BJP leader Ashwini Upadhyay , has sought directions to ECI to conduct SIR of electoral rolls at regular intervals, particularly before parliamentary, state assembly and local body elections . The plea also seeks a direction to all state governments to take action against those who help infiltrators by providing fake documents. The plea contends that it is the duty of the Centre, state and ECI to conduct SIR of voter lists and give a strong message that India is determined to fight against illegal infiltration . "Executive action should be taken to warn corrupt people who help infiltrators that betrayal of public trust will no longer be tolerated,", the plea argues. Upadhyay mentioned the plea on Tuesday before a division bench of justices Sudhanshu Dhulia and Joymalya Bagchi seeking permission to serve it to the respondents and listing on July 10, along with petitions challenging the SIR of Bihar electoral rolls . The bench, however, said the registry will decide on listing once the defects are cured. Live Events A clutch of pleas challenging the ECI's decision to carry out a special intensive revision of electoral rolls in Bihar ahead of the upcoming assembly elections are slated to come up for hearing on July 10.
