New Delhi, Aug 6 (IANS) The Election Commission (EC) on Wednesday brushed aside claims of AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi and Congress leader Randeep Surjewala, about the alleged irregularities and imperfections in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Bihar and advised them to lodge their complaints, if any, via proper channels.
EC’s pointed rebuttal comes on back of charges by the two tall leaders of respective parties, where they called the exclusion of 65 lakh names from draft voter list an ‘attack on constitutional democracy’ and also cried conspiracy over the procedure, alleging that this was deliberately designed to benefit a certain political party.
The draft electoral rolls for Bihar were published by the poll panel on August 1 and it has invited suggestions, complaints and grievances by parties and electors alike, leaving the window open for, if any, within a certain time frame. However, almost a week has passed, but none of the parties have posted any complaint, despite raising hue and cry over it.
AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi on Wednesday took to X and wrote: “The result of Bihar’s SIR is clear — the names of 56 lakh people have been removed.”
Hinting at manipulation of voters list in Bihar, Owaisi claimed: “The majority of the names were cut from districts where the Muslim population is higher, and where people, out of necessity, migrate to other parts of the country in search of employment. This kind of process is causing harm to those Indians who are the most vulnerable, who have no voice other than their right to vote.”
Randeep Surjewala, Congress MP and CWC member said it was a crime to stay mum in such times and called for raising voices, acting as the guardians of democracy.
“This is the biggest proof that the entire process of ‘electoral roll revision’ in Bihar is a fraud and a way to steal votes. The Election Commission’s act of striking off 65,00,000 (65 lakh) voters from Bihar is a direct attack on electoral democracy. The fraud is now evident to all, which is what Congress and Mr. Rahul Gandhi are fighting against,” he wrote on X, citing a news report, which claimed that a certificate was issued in the state, in name of ‘Donald Trump’.
Notably, the EC released the draft rolls comprising of 7.24 electors out of 7.89 existing voters after extensive enumeration exercise. About 65 lakh voters have been left out from the draft electoral rolls. This included 22 lakh deceased electors (2.83 per cent), 36 lakh (4.59 per cent) who had permanently shifted or not found and seven lakh (0.89 per cent) who had enrolled at more than one place, the EC data showed.
The poll panel, since the publication of draft electoral rolls for Bihar on August 1, has been urging the political parties to submit their complaints, grievances over alleged anomalies in the verification drive but till date, none of them have lodged any plaint.
“Submit your claims and objections to rectify any errors in the draft Electoral Roll of Bihar published on August 1. So far, not even a single claim or objection has been submitted by any political party,” EC said in a statement, this morning.
–IANS
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