6.5 Million Bihar Voters Marked for Deletion

EC asks electors to file objections until Sep 1; Opposition claims 20 million are at risk. Archis Mohan reports

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As many as 6.5 million electors — or 8.31 per cent of Bihar's 78.9 million registered voters — stand to lose their franchise in the Assembly elections, scheduled for October-November this year, according to final data from a month-long Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral roll released on Sunday evening by the Election Commission of India (EC).

The Opposition is expected to continue challenging the legality and intent of the SIR, which it claims will disenfranchise millions from marginalized communities. The matter is being contested in Parliament, on the ground in Bihar, and in the Supreme Court, where a hearing on multiple petitions is scheduled for Monday. At a press conference on Sunday evening, leaders of the INDIA bloc alleged that around 20 million voters in Bihar risk being removed from the rolls by the time the EC concludes the "claims and objections" phase.

The Commission will publish a fresh electoral roll on August 1 and has set a one-month period thereafter, until September 1, for electors to file objections to incorrect exclusions or inclusions. "Why are political parties making such a fuss now?" a senior EC official said on condition of anonymity. "Why don't they ask their 160,000 booth-level associates (BLAs) to submit claims and objections during the designated period? The draft list is not final, as clearly stated in the SIR orders."