Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar on Monday said that the Election Commission has already decided to conduct a Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise throughout the country, which will be announced after talks.
“The Election Commission has already taken a decision to conduct a pan-India SIR in every state and Union Territories. It is a work in progress. The EC will decide on the dates and make a formal announcement," he said during a press conference on Monday.
The SIR exercise was conducted by the Election Commission, resulting in the deletion of 69 lakh voters from the voter list due to deaths, inclusion of illegal immigrants and duplicate Voter ID cards. The total number of voters in Bihar stood at 7.43 crore after the deletions.
There have been a series of bitter exchanges between the poll body and the Opposition parties, who argued that the EC’s exercise was aimed at “disenfranchising voters" in Bihar ahead of the Assembly elections. The EC has refuted these arguments and said they were aimed at “purifying" the voter lists ahead of the high-stakes elections.
The Election Commission on Monday announced that Bihar will go to elections in two phases on November 6 and 11, with counting scheduled for November 14. The SIR is expected to be the core issue in the polls as the INDIA bloc leaders have been continuously accusing the Election Commission of indulging in ‘Vote theft’, even though the poll panel has categorically denied the charge.
Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar said the SIR initiative, launched in Bihar on June 25, was aimed at ensuring cleaner and more accurate electoral rolls. According to official data, of the 69 lakh deletions from Bihar’s pre-SIR roll, 65 lakh names were removed in the draft list published on August 1, followed by another 3.66 lakh before the final publication.
He lauded BLOs and other officials for their commendable job in “purifying" the voter list through the SIR exercise. “The draft list was published on August 1 and was given to all political parties. Then, an appropriate time was given to everyone for claims and objections. The final list was published on September 30. Even now, if there are any claims or any names to be added, they can be added," he said.
The Special Intensive Revision model implemented in Bihar is expected to be rolled out nationwide to standardise voter verification ahead of future elections, the Election Commission said.
“The Supreme Court directed the inclusion of the Aadhaar Card as the 12th document as proof of identification, but it will not serve as proof of citizenship. Section 9 of the Aadhaar Act states that the Aadhaar Card is neither proof of citizenship nor Domicile. Before 2023, many SC judgments stated that Aadhaar is not proof of date of birth," Kumar said.
