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With a “special intensive revision” of Bihar’s electoral rolls underway, the Election Commission on Saturday said that out of the total 7.89 crore electors in the state, 4.96 crore whose names were already on the rolls on January 1, 2003 will only have to fill and submit a new enumeration form.
The remaining 2.93 crore – or about 37% of the electors – whose names were not on the voter list after the last revision of electoral rolls was conducted in 2003, will therefore need to submit proof of eligibility.
The special intensive revision of the electoral rolls in Bihar was announced by the Election Commission on June 24, ahead of the Assembly elections scheduled to be held in the state at the end of the year.
The poll panel had said that the review needed to be conducted due to reasons such as rapid urbanisation, frequent migration, fresh voters, non-reported deaths and the “inclusion of the names of foreign illegal immigrants”.
This was the first time that the Election Commission has talked about undocumented migrants being part of the electoral roll in the state after the last special intensive revision held in 2003.
As part of the exercise, persons whose names are not on the 2003 voter list will need to submit proof of eligibility.
Voters born before July 1, 1987 must show proof of their date and place of birth, while those born between July 1, 1987 and December 2, 2004 must submit documents establishing the date and place of birth of their parents. Those born after December 2, 2004 will need proof of date of birth for both parents.
In a press note on Saturday about the start of the revision, the Election Commission noted that as per Article 326 of the Constitution, which deals with eligibility to become a voter, only Indian citizens above 18 years and ordinary residents in the constituency in question are eligible to become electors.
“Special Intensive Revision has already started successfully in Bihar for verifying the eligibility of each elector with full participation of all political parties,” the press note said. “ECI already has 77,895 Booth Level Officers [BLOs] and is appointing nearly 20,603 more BLOs for new polling stations.”
The poll panel also said that over one lakh volunteers would be assisting “genuine electors, particularly the old, sick, Persons with Disabilities [PwD], poor and other vulnerable groups during the SIR [special intensive revision]”.
All recognised political parties registered with the Election Commission have already appointed 1,54,977 booth level agents, the press note said, adding that they could still appoint more.
Several political parties had criticised the revision of the electoral rolls in Bihar after it was announced by the Election Commission on June 24.
On Thursday, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee claimed that the revision was “even more dangerous” than the National Register of Citizens.
Banerjee claimed that although the exercise began in Bihar, the real target was West Bengal, especially its migrant workers. “The Election Commission must act as an independent institution, not a mouthpiece for the [Bharatiya Janata Party],” she said.
Assembly elections in West Bengal are slated to be held next year.
The chief minister alleged that through the revision of electoral rolls, the Election Commission was trying to rob young citizens of their voting rights. “Are they working to establish the NRC [National Register of Citizens]? What is their intention?”
Banerjee was referring to an updated National Register of Citizens published by the Assam government in August 2019 with the aim of separating Indian citizens from undocumented immigrants living in the state. As part of the exercise, residents had to prove that they or their ancestors had entered Assam before midnight on March 24, 1971.
More than 19 lakh persons, or 5.77% of the applicants, were left out of the final list.
The Congress also criticised the Election Commissions new guidelines, claiming that they amounted to a “clear and explicit admission by the poll panel that all is not well with India’s electoral rolls”.
This article first appeared on Scroll.in
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