The Election Commission of India (ECI) is set to remove 61.1 lakh voters from Bihar’s electoral rolls. This move comes just a day before the ECI’s deadline for submitting enumeration forms as part of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR).
According to NDTV, the Election Commission (EC) said on Thursday that officials have reached out to 99% of voters so far. Out of 7.9 crore electors, 7.21 crore enumeration forms have been submitted and digitised, and only 7 lakh have not returned their forms.
Reportedly, the ECI claimed that 21.6 lakh of the 61.1 lakh voters who could be removed from the records are deceased, 31.5 lakh have relocated permanently outside of Bihar, 7 lakh are registered voters in various places, and 1 lakh cannot be located.
On average, 25,144 names could be eliminated from each constituency across Bihar's 243 Assembly seats if the current number holds, reports the NDTV. The outcomes of the Assembly elections, which are probably going to take place in a few months, are anticipated to be significantly impacted by this, as the most recent polls showed extremely close margins of victory in a number of seats.
Defending this move, Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar said, "Isn't a pure voter list being prepared by the Election Commission through a transparent process, the foundation for fair elections and a strong democracy?" he said, according to the ECI.
The Hindu reported, Mr. Kumar said allowing ineligible people to vote, first in Bihar and later in the entire country, is against the Constitution. On these questions, someday or the other, all of us and all the citizens of India will have to think deeply, going beyond political ideologies," he underlined.
The opposition has voiced concerns that this move will disenfranchise crores of eligible citizens.
Opposition INDIA bloc parties have also demonstrated against the SIR in Parliament, claiming irregularities at the Election Commission.
Rahul Gandhi, the leader of the opposition, criticised the poll body, stating, "You are mistaken if you believe you will get away with it. We have unquestionable evidence that the Karnataka Election Commission permitted cheating in a seat. There is a pattern here: new votes are being added while existing voters are being removed in one constituency after another.”
The EC called the accusations "baseless" and stated that Mr. Gandhi chose to publicly accuse and threaten a constitutional body rather than follow the due procedure required by Section 80 of the Representation of the People Act, 1951.
