People from Nepal, B'desh, in Bihar list

Move follows SC view that SIR is a 'constitutional mandate'

- Mukesh Ranjan @ New Delhi

Undeterred by the controversy over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in poll-bound Bihar, it is learnt that the Election Commission of India (ECI) has sent a communication to chief electoral officers (CEOs) of all states to activate poll machinery for a possible rollout of the exercise on a pan-India basis.

The ECI's decision comes in the backdrop of the Supreme Court's observation last week that SIR is a "constitutional mandate" and that ECI can go ahead with the revision exercise in Bihar.

Several opposition parties and civil society organisations had moved the SC challenging the intensive revision, saying it deprived eligible citizens of their right to vote for want of documents specified by the poll panel for inclusion in the voters' list.