Daijiworld Media Network - New Delhi
New Delhi, Aug 11: The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Monday said that out of 10,570 claims and objections filed by individual voters regarding the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Bihar, only 127 have been addressed so far. Surprisingly, despite widespread political allegations, not a single complaint has been formally submitted by any political party since the release of the draft rolls on August 1.
This clarification comes at a time when opposition leaders, including Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, were detained during protests in Delhi over alleged voter list manipulation in several states.
In Bihar alone, 54,432 new voters aged 18 and above have applied for inclusion in the electoral rolls since the beginning of August, the ECI said.
Opposition parties have been vocal in their criticism of the SIR exercise, accusing the ECI of orchestrating large-scale voter deletions. However, the poll panel has refuted these claims and urged all political parties to actively participate in the revision process by submitting claims or objections if discrepancies are found.
The draft electoral rolls, published on August 1, are open for public scrutiny and rectification until September 1. The ECI has repeatedly invited political parties and their booth-level agents (BLAs) to flag any issues, yet it reported that no such feedback has been received to date.
The Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) currently has 47,506 BLAs in the field, Congress 17,549, and the Left parties over 2,000, totaling more than 67,000 agents who could potentially raise concerns if any existed.
“Despite repeated outreach, no political party has filed a single objection so far,” the ECI noted in a statement, encouraging continued scrutiny of the draft rolls.
The enumeration phase of the SIR ran from June 24 to July 25, during which more than 7.24 crore out of 7.89 crore registered voters in Bihar submitted their details. Based on the data, around 65 lakh entries were removed from the rolls, including 22 lakh deceased voters, 36 lakh who had permanently relocated or were not found, and 7 lakh cases of multiple registrations.
The ECI emphasized that no voter will be removed without a formal and justified order. The revision drive, it said, is focused on ensuring full voter inclusion—especially of youth, urban migrants, and temporary residents—while also engaging political parties in the process.
Notably, between June 23 and July 25, Congress more than doubled its BLA count to 17,549 (a 105% jump), RJD marginally increased to 47,506, JD(U) rose to 36,550 (up 31%), and BJP to 53,338 (up 3%).
The Commission concluded by reiterating that its priority remains protecting every eligible voter’s right to vote, and that the SIR exercise is a transparent and inclusive effort towards a cleaner, updated electoral roll.