First time in two decades, Election Commission revises voter list for bypolls
The last time a special summary revision took place for a bypoll was in 2006 in Tamil Nadu, officials pointed out.
Citing provisions of the Representation of the People Act, 1950, officials said the electoral roll was to be revised before every election and bypoll unless otherwise directed by the EC.
If the electoral roll was not revised, the validity or continued operation of the said electoral roll should not be affected, they said, quoting the law.
The validity of the current electoral roll continues till the completion of the special revision.
Officials underlined that it was for the commission to decide if revision of electoral rolls had to be conducted or not, depending on the requirement.
Bypolls to five Assembly seats in four States will be held on June 19, the poll authority announced last month.
While two Assembly bypolls will be held in Gujarat, one each will take place in Kerala, West Bengal and Punjab. The counting of votes will take place on June 23.
In Gujarat, the bypoll to the Kadi seat was necessitated following the death of sitting MLA Karsanbhai Punjabhai Solanki.
Another bypoll to the Visavadar seat in the State is taking place due to the resignation of sitting member Bhayani Bhupendrabhai Gandubhai.
In Kerala, the Nilambur seat will go to bypoll since P.V. Anvar has resigned, while a bypoll will be held in Punjab's Ludhiana seat due to the death of sitting member Gurpreet Bassi Gogi.
A byelection to the Kaliganj Assembly seat in West Bengal has been necessitated due to the death of sitting member Nasiruddin Ahamed.
Special summary revision is the legal term for revision of electoral rolls to weed out voters who have left the constituency or have died, and to add new names.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Time of India
17 minutes ago
- Time of India
10000 IDF Soldiers Pay Heavy Price For Netanyahu's War; Sleep Loss, Mood Swings & PTSD...
Supreme Court Told Bihar Voter Roll Revision a 'Grave Fraud on Voters' The Supreme Court on Saturday heard serious allegations against the Election Commission's special intensive revision (SIR) of Bihar's electoral rolls. Petitioners, including the Association for Democratic Reforms and the RJD, claimed the process was marred by irregularities — with BLOs allegedly forging voter signatures, dead individuals shown as having submitted forms, and genuine voters excluded without notice. The petitioners argued that the EC's numbers were unreliable as forms were collected without proper documentation, putting lakhs at risk of disenfranchisement just ahead of the state elections. They also questioned why the EC rejected Aadhaar and ration cards as valid proof.#supremecourt #electioncommission #biharelections #voterfraud #electoralrolls #rjd #adr #voterlist #disenfranchisement #biharnews #manojjha #ashoklavasa #form6 #voteridentity #bloirregularities 152 views | 1 hour ago
The Hindu
17 minutes ago
- The Hindu
Stop SIR in Bihar, refrain from ‘institutional arrogance', says INDIA bloc
The Indian National Developmental, Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) bloc parties on Sunday (July 27, 2025) urged the Election Commission of India (EC) to refrain from 'institutional arrogance', and stop the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral roll in Bihar, saying it has effectively become a process of establishing citizenship. Speaking at a joint press conference, along with Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) Liberation (CPI-ML-L) general secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) MP Manoj Jha, and Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) leader Nilotpal Basu, Congress Rajya Sabha member Abhishek Manu Singhvi said it was not an issue of 'political obstinacy' or 'institutional arrogance'. 'I humbly urge the Election Commission... it is not a matter of political obstinacy or institutional arrogance. Please reconsider is urging you,' Mr. Singhvi said. VIDEO | On SIR exercise in Bihar, Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi (@DrAMSinghvi) says, "If it is wrong in Bihar, then it is wrong in the entire country. Exclusion of 60 lakhs is not even a trailer, they will exclude more. Citizenship is the main agenda..."#SIR… — Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) July 27, 2025 About 10 elections had been held after 2003 and till then, all the ID cards had been valid throughout. 'In that case, what was the urgency in initiating the process in June-July, link it to an election,' he said, adding that the exercise could have been undertaken after yet another election (Bihar). The attempt to squeeze the entire process within two-three months was resulting in several errors, Mr. Singhvi said. Stating that the SIR had become a process of establishing citizenship, Mr. Singhvi asked if the Election Commission was authorised to do so. He cited a 1995 Supreme Court judgment to say that detailed legal provisions should be followed to take away anyone's citizenship. Mr. Bhattacharya said the EC's 'self-congratulatory' statements were confirming the INDIA bloc party's apprehensions. After the process started, the number of possible deletions from the voters' list kept increasing, and now it was about 65 lakh, he said. The Opposition parties had flagged concerns over about two crore alleged deletions. 'The EC has made one very misleading and false claim that it has shared this with the political parties. We have received block-level data about pending enumeration forms, which were not the details been shared with us, we could have cross-checked them before the draft was prepared...,' Mr. Bhattacharya said, stating that no door-to-door visits had been made during the EC's exercise. He also asked whether the EC's summary revision held in January 2025 was wrong, and if the claim of 22 lakh deaths was correct. Describing it as the biggest exercise of 'disenfranchisement since Independence', Mr. Jha said the EC had not consulted political parties on the SIR. The people whose names would be deleted were not being given the right to appeal. 'Opacity has become the hallmark of your (the EC's) functioning,' he said. No consultation with political parties had been carried out before initiating the SIR exercise, Mr. Basu said. He sought details of the survey on the basis of which the process was being carried out.
News18
42 minutes ago
- News18
No names can be deleted from draft rolls without due process: EC
New Delhi, Jul 27 (PTI) The Election Commission on Sunday asserted that no name can be deleted from the draft electoral roll of Bihar without following due process, including an order from the electoral registration officer (ERO). The EC underlined the due process involved in the exercise amid allegations by opposition parties that crores of eligible persons will lose their voting rights for want of documents due to the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the voter list in Bihar. The poll panel said there will be no deletion from Draft Electoral Rolls without a 'speaking order". A speaking order is a self-explanatory order that details the reasons for reaching a particular conclusion. According to SIR guidelines, no name can be deleted from the draft list published on August 1 without notice and a speaking order of the Electoral Registration Officers/Assistant Electoral Registration Officer (ERO/AERO), it said. Any elector aggrieved by any decision of the ERO can appeal to the District Magistrate and the Chief Electoral Officer thereafter. The final voter list will be published in the state on September 30. Assembly polls are due in Bihar later this year. PTI NAB RT RT view comments First Published: July 27, 2025, 22:30 IST Disclaimer: Comments reflect users' views, not News18's. Please keep discussions respectful and constructive. Abusive, defamatory, or illegal comments will be removed. News18 may disable any comment at its discretion. By posting, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
