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Time of India
8 hours ago
- Politics
- Time of India
Electoral roll revision: EC eases rules for Bihar voters; 'required documents can be submitted later'
NEW DELHI: Days after the opposition dubbed EC's special intensive revision of electoral rolls as "votebandi," the poll body on Sunday eased the rules of the ongoing exercise for Bihar voters. In an advertisement carried in Hindi newspapers, Bihar chief electoral officer has now asked voters to submit forms without the required documents, which can be submitted later. "As soon as you receive the enumeration form from the BLO, fill it immediately and submit it to the BLO along with the required documents and photograph," the advertisement said. "If you do not have the necessary documents, then submit only the filled enumeration form to the BLO," it added. "If you provide the required documents, it will help the Electoral Registration Officer to process your application more easily. If you are unable to submit the required documents, the Electoral Registration Officer may take a decision based on a local inquiry or verification of other supporting documents," the advertisement further read. This comes after the opposition objected to the ongoing intensive revision of the electoral rolls in Bihar just months ahead of the upcoming assembly elections. A delegation of 11 parties met the EC and claimed that this will put democracy in Bihar "under threat". Calling the exercise 'votebandi,' CPM's Dipankar Bhattacharya claimed that the Commission admitted that 20% of Bihar's voters reside outside the state, which effectively means they could lose their right to vote. "This is nothing less than 'votebandi' for Bihar," he said, comparing the exercise to the demonetisation, or 'notebandi', carried out in 2016. "There seems to be a failure on our part to convince the Election Commission that one month is not enough for lakhs of voters to submit identification documents. Democracy in Bihar is under threat. A major people's movement is now necessary," he added. On Saturday, former Bihar chief minister Rabri Devi asked the people to "refuse" to show any documents to the officials. According to the poll body, it is part of its crackdown on illegal immigrants from countries like Nepal, Bangladesh, and Myanmar. The poll panel reminded the constitutional provision that says only Indian citizens can vote. "The Constitution of India is supreme. All citizens, political parties, and the Election Commission of India follow the Constitution," EC said in a statement. The poll panel already has nearly 78,000 booth-level officers (BLOs) and is appointing over 20,000 more for new polling stations, it said. More than one lakh volunteers will be assisting genuine electors, particularly the old, sick, persons with disabilities, poor, and other vulnerable groups during the special intensive revision. Out of the existing 7,89,69,844 electors, 4.96 crore electors, whose names are already in the last intensive revision of the Electoral Roll on January 1, 2003, have to "simply verify so, fill the Enumeration Form and submit it." The enumeration form should be filled between 25 June and 26 July, after which the draft voter list will be published on 1 August 2025; the period for filing claims and objections will be from 1 August to 1 September, and the final voter list will be published on 30 September.
Hindustan Times
2 days ago
- Politics
- Hindustan Times
SIR exercise in Bihar is akin to votebandi: CPI(ML) chief Dipankar Bhattacharya
Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) Liberation general secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya, whose party is a key constituent of the Opposition INDIA bloc in Bihar, describes the ongoing special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in the poll-bound state as 'votebandi'. Edited excerpts of his interview to Saubhadra Chatterji: Dipankar Bhattacharya What are the key issues for the INDIA bloc in the upcoming Bihar elections? People feel completely let down and betrayed by the Nitish Kumar's government. Kumar's major plank was development but now you find Bihar completely mired in poverty, unemployment and people are reeling under huge debt burden. Then another major key assurance was good governance and law and order. Today, it's like a reign of complete crime. People are looking for a change. There are a lot of talks that women vote for Nitish Kumar. That was a period when women indeed preferred him. But now, when a mid-day meal worker gets only ₹1,650 for 10 months a year, that support base has eroded. Caste is a dominant factor in Bihar politics. Don't you think JD(U)-BJP alliance appeals to the upper caste, Kurmis, non-Yadav OBCs and EBCs? People often forget that caste is a very dynamic thing. Caste equations are not cast in stone. Also, caste doesn't operate in a vacuum. So, it's not that if there is huge poverty, unemployment, these things don't affect a particular caste. No caste is insulated from this kind of a crisis situation. Especially in this kind of a social and economic crisis, every other caste equation changes. There is no such thing as like a fixed equation. That's why I don't think that any particular caste is a captive vote bank of any particular party. You met the CEC over the ongoing SIR exercise in Bihar. The suddenness with which, without any consultation or prior indication, the election commission has taken up this state campaign, which is logistically impossible, it has completely changed the terms of discourse. Earlier, the citizens and the voters didn't have to prove that they were citizens. It was the job of the state to prove that so and so is an illegitimate voter. Now, the EC has shifted it to the voters. This is like 'votebandi'. Voters whose names were not there in the 2003 voter list will have to prove that they are citizens. And the conditions that have been set by EC makes it very difficult for the people of Bihar. EC has put out a figure saying that the 2003 voter list means some 5 crore (50 million) people are there, so they won't have to produce anything. But this is a statistical illusion, because of those 5 crore people, nearly one-fifth might have passed away or migrated to other states. …This means that today, when you have an adult population of more than 8 crore, roughly 4.5 to 5 crore people will have to prove their citizenship. And this has to be done in just one month, within July 26th. What is the status of seat-sharing agreement among the INDIA bloc allies? Talks are underway. We have had one-on-one talks with the Congress and RJD. All parties have submitted their lists of seats that they would like to contest. A collective call will be taken. I'm sure seat sharing won't really be a big problem. We should be able to complete it maybe within a month.
NDTV
4 days ago
- Politics
- NDTV
'Votebandi': INDIA Bloc vs Poll Body On Electoral Roll Revision In Bihar
New Delhi: Putting up a united front, a delegation of 11 parties from the opposition INDIA bloc met the Election Commission on Wednesday to share their concerns over the large-scale revision of the electoral rolls in Bihar, but came out more unhappy than they were when they went in. "After meeting the Election Commission, our concerns have increased further because the Commission did not give a satisfactory reply to any of our questions," CPI(ML) Liberation General Secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya, who went on to call the process 'votebandi', said. Trouble began when the delegation - which included leaders from the Congress, Rashtriya Janata Dal, CPI(M), CPI, CPI(ML) Liberation, NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar) and Samajwadi Party - reached Nirvachan Sadan, the office of the Election Commission in New Delhi, on Wednesday and were told only two members from each party would be allowed in. "For the first time, we were given rules to enter the Election Commission (EC). For the first time, we were told only party chiefs can go. Such restrictions mean that necessary dialogue between political parties and the EC can't happen... Today, only two people per party were allowed, which left leaders like Jairam Ramesh, Pawan Khera and Akhilesh Singh standing outside," Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi said. The delegation then went in and had a three-hour meeting with Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and other election commissioners. The leaders told the Commission that the special intensive revision - a targeted voter verification and list-updating process that includes physical verification of voters, document scrutiny, and deletion of ineligible entries - being conducted so close to the assembly elections in Bihar risked leaving voters out and adding ineligible people to the rolls. "If the last intensive revision was conducted in 2003 and elections happened a year later, why is this being pushed now, with only 2-3 months left before the polls? You didn't even mention the intensive revision until January, and now suddenly it has been implemented. Why now? We are not against the revision, but it can be done with great care after this election," Mr Singhvi said, pointing out that there are nearly eight crore voters in Bihar, increasing the risk of errors if the exercise is carried out in such a short timeframe. Criticising the lack of Aadhaar validation using Aadhaar cards, Mr Singhvi said the EC demands Aadhaar for everything else "but not here - why?" 'Exclusion' RJD leader Manoj Jha expressed deep concern over the documentation criteria laid out by the Commission. "If this exercise leads to exclusion rather than inclusion, what is its purpose?" he asked. Mr Jha warned that most people do not possess the 11 types of documents required for voters not listed in the 2003 electoral rolls and said, "If the intent is to exclude crores of people, you will see a flood of protests on the streets." The RJD leader also raised doubts about the Election Commission's intent and transparency, saying the rationale provided to them was not convincing. 'Democracy Under Threat' Perhaps the sharpest criticism came from CPI(ML) Liberation General Secretary Bhattacharya, who called the Election Commission's explanations "unsatisfactory" and said democracy in the state is under threat. Mr Bhattacharya said the Commission admitted that 20% of Bihar's voters reside outside the state, which effectively means they could lose their right to vote. "This is nothing less than 'votebandi' for Bihar," he said, comparing the exercise to the demonetisation, or 'notebandi', carried out in 2016. "There seems to be a failure on our part to convince the Election Commission that one month is not enough for lakhs of voters to submit identification documents. Democracy in Bihar is under threat. A major people's movement is now necessary," he said. To a question by NDTV about the possibility of going to court to challenge the exercise, Mr Singhvi, who is a senior advocate in the Supreme Court, said the delegation would decide on legal options "at a later stage". Replying to the same question, Mr Jha said, "This is not the place to say these things. We will decide and inform the media." Poll Panel Response In a statement after the meeting, the Election Commission said the special intensive revision (SIR) is being done following the proper provisions and all concerns brought up by the leaders of the parties were addressed. "The SIR is being conducted in accordance with the provisions of Article 326, Representation of the People Act 1950 and instructions issued on 24.06.2025. The party representatives raised various concerns related to SIR. Each concern which was raised by any member of the political party was fully addressed by the Commission," the poll body said. On the issue of two members being allowed in, the panel said it was to ensure a plurality of viewpoints. "Some of the participants were given an appointment and others were allowed to join in without any prior appointment, as the Commission decided to meet two representatives from every party so as to listen to all views... The Commission also thanked all political parties for actively participating in the SIR process so that no eligible voter is left out," the statement said.
New Indian Express
4 days ago
- Politics
- New Indian Express
ECI cautions against misinformation regarding Bihar electoral roll revision
NEW DELHI: Noting that 'the Special Intensive Revision (SIR)' of the electoral roll in Bihar has been progressing smoothly as planned and strictly as per orders issued on June 24, 2025, officials in the Election Commission of India (ECI) on Wednesday asserted that 'any misinformation being spread should be ignored'. Meanwhile, the Commission also asserted that given repeated conflicting emails being sent by unauthorised persons on behalf of various parties, the panel 'will take cognisance only of 'Heads of Political Parties', who are the official authorised representatives of political parties registered with the ECI and no other unauthorised person(s)'. After getting confirmation from the CPI (ML) and the CPI(M), the ECI officials said, the poll panel will be meeting the General Secretary of the former Dipankar Bhattacharya and other authorised representatives of the two parties this evening at 5 pm. In identical communications to political parties, the ECI said, 'I am directed to state that pursuant to your email dated 30.06.2025, despite it not having any evidence of authorisation from the mentioned Political Parties, the Commission had still given a time of 05:00 PM on 02.07.2025 to the concerned Political Parties and sought their confirmation of attendance of the said meeting from the head of the parties along with one authorised person.'
Time of India
5 days ago
- Politics
- Time of India
Dipankar criticises EC's plan for revising electoral rolls
Patna: CPI-ML general secretary, Dipankar Bhattacharya , on Tuesday said the Election Commission 's move to provide "clarifications" over the special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Bihar was only adding to "confusion and misinformation" and urged the poll body to urgently drop the idea, describing it as "arbitrary and ill-planned. " In a statement issued on Tuesday, Bhattacharya posed seven questions to the EC, raising concerns over its drive launched just ahead of the upcoming Bihar assembly polls and after a gap of 22 years. "The ECI must withdraw this arbitrary, utterly ill-planned, and non-transparent fiat and conduct the elections on the basis of normal updating of the electoral roll as done in every election over the last two decades," Bhattacharya said. He added that the focus must be on facilitating electors in exercising their franchise, not creating difficulties and excluding electors from the election process. Bhattacharya further asked the EC to explain why it didn't consult with any political party before launching the SIR. "Why was it announced all of a sudden? When demonetisation or notebandi was announced all of a sudden, the govt said it wanted to catch black money holders unawares. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Giao dịch CFD với công nghệ và tốc độ tốt hơn IC Markets Đăng ký Undo Why did the ECI want to catch voters off guard?" he asked. He said the last time an SIR was conducted was 22 years ago, stating it is certainly not a "routine annual exercise". Stating that never before in the country were the electors asked to prove their citizenship, the CPI-ML leader wondered how every elector is being doubted and asked to prove his or her citizenship with the help of documents that many still do not possess. He also criticised the EC for its remarks that not all voters are required to submit documents. "While the ECI now seeks to provide false comfort by talking of the 4.96 crore voters who will not have to submit documents, what about the remaining 3 crore who will have to submit them? What about the massive number of electors who are likely to be disenfranchised in the process?" he asked. Get the latest lifestyle updates on Times of India, along with Doctor's Day 2025 , messages and quotes!
