Kumar Bahukhandi
The poll authority also listed 10 aims of the SIR exercise to underline that it is all inclusive and not aimed at depriving any eligible citizen from their right to vote.
New Delhi: Amid opposition claims that the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of Bihar’s voters’ list will deprive crores of eligible citizens from their right to vote, the Election Commission on Sunday asserted that no names will be deleted from draft rolls without following due process. In a statement, the poll authority also listed 10 aims of the SIR exercise to underline that it is all inclusive and not aimed at depriving any eligible citizen from their right to vote.
It said the first aim of SIR is participation of all electors and all political parties.
The second aim, it said, is that no eligible elector in Bihar should be left behind.
The poll authority said the third aim of SIR is that no temporary migrant from Bihar should be left behind. It also noted that no urban elector in Bihar is left behind.
Also that no young elector is left behind from the state. Regular involvement of all electors and all political parties is also a key aim of the exercise, the poll panel said.
Assistance by the entire election staff, including volunteers, is also part of the aims of the SIR.
The massive exercise also seeks to redress any issue raised during the enumeration phase, which ended Friday. The scrutiny of draft roll will begin from August 1 and end on September 1.
The EC also made it clear that the draft electoral roll to be published in Bihar is not the final voters’ list, saying a month’s time will be available to include eligible electors and exclude those ineligible.
The draft roll is scheduled to be published on August 1 and the final roll on September 30.
The poll panel said at the end of the month-long first phase of the SIR that enumeration forms from 7.24 crore or 91.69 per cent voters of the state have been received.
It added that 36 lakh people were found to have either permanently shifted from their previous addresses or were not found. The EC also pointed out that 7 lakh Bihar voters were found to have enrolled themselves at multiple places.
The EC said booth-level officers did not find these electors or get back their enumeration forms because they have either become voters in other states or Union territories, or were not found in existence, or did not submit the forms till July 25.
The first phase of the SIR related to distributing and receiving enumeration forms ended on Friday (July 25). Another reason was that they were not willing to register themselves as voters for some reason or the other.
The poll watchdog said the exact status of these voters will be known after a scrutiny of these forms by August 1. “However, genuine electors can still be added back in electoral rolls during the claims and objection period from August 1 to September 1.
The names of the electors found enrolled at multiple places in electoral rolls will be retained only at one place, the EC said in a statement. Separately, the poll authority said it is “not able to understand” that when a month-long period from August 1 to September 1 is available to point out wrongful inclusions and exclusions of voters’ names, “
why are they creating such a big fuss now?” It said political parties are free to check with their workers on the actual progress of the process. “Why not ask their 1.6 lakh booth-level agents to submit claims and objections from August 1 till September 1,” the EC quipped. The booth-level agents appointed by political parties work with the EC’s booth-level officers in preparing or updating the voters’ list. “Why are some persons trying to give an impression that the draft list is the final list, which it is not, as per SIR orders,” the EC statement said. Various opposition parties in Bihar, which is slated to go to polls later this year, have claimed that crores of eligible citizens will be disenfranchised during roll revision for want of documents.
They have also claimed that the BJP will benefit from it as the state machinery will target people opposed to the ruling alliance in the state. The EC said the first aim of the SIR is to ensure the participation of all electors and political parties. “Out of 7.89 crore electors as on 24.06.2025, over 7.24 crore have submitted their enumeration forms, indicating overwhelming participation,” it said.
The poll panel noted that the total number of BLAs increased by 16 per cent during the SIR period. The EC also said that it is making special efforts to ensure that no eligible voter in Bihar is left behind.
(Source-PTI ) 
