E-Paper
Chidambaram seeks ECI clarification on discrepancies in Bihar final voter rolls; BJP says no appeals filed
Bihar is scheduled to hold assembly elections in two phases on November 6 and 11, with counting set for November 14
New Delhi: Senior Congress leader and former union minister P. Chidambaram on Thursday sought clarifications from the Election Commission of India (ECI) regarding alleged discrepancies in the final electoral rolls of poll-bound Bihar, released after a controversial Special Intensive Revision (SIR).
Aligning with concerns raised by the Congress’ election monitoring cell, the Empowered Action Group of Leaders and Experts (EAGLE), Chidambaram questioned the difference in the number of registered voters between the 2024 Lok Sabha elections and the upcoming 2025 Bihar Assembly polls.
“What is the estimate of the adult population of Bihar according to the Government of India? What proportion of the adult population has been included in the Bihar electoral rolls? Is it 90.7%? What about the remaining 9.3% of the adult population? Why are they not included in the electoral rolls?” he asked.
A statement issued by the party on Wednesday said, “For the Lok Sabha 2024 elections, there were 7.72 crore registered voters. Which means, on a net basis, 30 lakh people of Bihar who were registered as voters for the Lok Sabha elections are no longer voters for the Vidhan Sabha election. Who are these 30 lakh people? How many of these people voted in Bihar for the Lok Sabha 2024 election?”
Also Read: Bihar SIR ends, final roll lists 74.2 million names
The statement also pointed out that only 16.93 lakh Form 6 applications were available for enrolling new voters, contrasting with the ECI’s claim of adding 21.53 lakh voters.
The Congress alleged that approximately 5 lakh names in the final list were duplicates. “How many names in the electoral rolls are gibberish? Is the number approximately 24,000? How many house numbers in the electoral rolls are blank or obviously invalid? Is the number over 2,00,000? How many names included in the electoral rolls are double or duplicate entries? Is the number approximately 5,20,000?” Chidambaram asked the ECI.
Also Read: Bihar assembly polls: First test after SIR, to set stage for nationwide exercise
The ECI released Bihar’s final voter rolls on September 30, excluding 47 lakh names that had appeared in the pre-SIR lists. Out of these, 3.66 lakh were removed after scrutiny determined them ineligible. “SIR exercise was carried out in line with Article 326 of Constitution & ECI’s motto of “no eligible voter to be left out, and no ineligible person to be included in the Electoral rolls”.....If any person is not satisfied with decision of ERO regarding an entry in final electoral roll, they may, under Section 24 of the RP Act, 1950, file a first appeal before district magistrate and a second appeal before CEO,” the poll watchdog had said.
The Supreme Court has directed the ECI to furnish details of the excluded voters by Thursday.
The Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) questioned whether there were any anomalies at all in the ECI’s functioning, especially since opposition parties had failed to file any appeals against the final voter list. “Rahul Gandhi’s entire propaganda in Bihar has proved to be a hoax,” BJP spokesperson Pradeep Bhandari said.
Citing the election commission’s list covering 38 districts, including West Champaran, East Champaran, Sheohar, Sitamarhi, Madhubani, Jamui, Gaya, and Aurangabad, Bhandari said that the absence of any appeals from opposition party agents demonstrated internal discontent within the Congress-Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) alliance. “Neither RJD believes in the issues raised by Rahul Gandhi, nor does the Bihar Congress unit,” he added.
Bihar is scheduled to hold assembly elections in two phases on November 6 and 11, with counting set for November 14.
