E-Paper
3 out of every 4 Bihar voters have filed enumeration forms, says EC
As of 6pm on Friday, 5.87 crore (58.7 million) forms — 74.39% of total —have been collected within 17 days since the SIR instructions were issued on June 24.
New Delhi: Three out of every four electors in Bihar have already submitted their enumeration forms as part of the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, according to an official press note issued by the Election Commission of India (ECI) on Friday.
As of 6pm on Friday, 5.87 crore (58.7 million) forms — 74.39% of total —have been collected within 17 days since the SIR instructions were issued on June 24.
The EC said over 77,000 Booth Level Officers (BLOs), along with 20,603 newly appointed BLOs, election officials, and more than 400,000 volunteers, have been working to ensure smooth collection and digitisation of forms ahead of the Bihar assembly elections later this year. The digitisation and uploading of 3.73 crore (37.3 million) forms through BLO App/ECINet has also begun, with a new verification module now operational.
An EC official aware of the matter told HT that the new module has that been implemented in ECINet for the verification of the uploaded forms by the AERO/ERO is a “real time” module which allows the AERO/ERO to verify against the EPIC number as to who has uploaded their Enumeration Forms and what all documents have they submitted for verification as well.
“We are banking on our strong tech and digital platforms to finish the process properly and before time so this module will help us with the same and also help us in keeping a track of the number of the people submitting documents and not just forms,” said the official.
The development comes amid a political back-and-forth between the Congress and BJP following Thursday’s Supreme Court hearing on petitions challenging the SIR. The court, while allowing the EC to continue the exercise, asked it to consider Aadhaar, voter ID, and ration cards as valid documents for the revision.
Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said on X, “Following the Hon’ble Supreme Court’s order that has just come out officially, the Election Commission now has to include the EPIC, Aadhaar cards, and Ration Cards in the Special Intensive Revision of the electoral rolls in Bihar. This will save a vast majority of voters from being disenfranchised.” Ramesh added, “Moreover the EC’s spin on the no stay being given has been clearly exposed. Page 7 of the order makes it clear that no stay was asked for by any of the petitioners yesterday.”
The BJP, however, accused Congress of twisting the court’s words. “Stop misinterpreting the Supreme Court. The Court has not mandated the acceptance of any additional documents—it has merely said it may consider them,” BJP spokesperson Amit Malviya posted on X, warning Congress against “deliberately misrepresenting court observations.”
The Supreme Court bench led by Justices Sudhanshu Dhulia and Joymalya Bagchi noted in its order: “We cannot stop a constitutional body from doing what it is supposed to do. Simultaneously, we will not let them do what they are not supposed to do.” The matter is scheduled for further hearing on July 28.
