‘Best-ever performance’: Poll body lauds its chief

Election Commission of India (ECI) officials hailed the conduct of Bihar elections as the “best-ever performance” by the Gyanesh Kumar-led poll body, citing record voter turnout and zero repolls and no appeals during the special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in the state.

- Vrinda Tulsian

After the second and final phase of the Bihar polls ended on Tuesday, chief election commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar said Bihar had “shown the way to the nation”, noting: “SIR with zero appeals and highest voter turnout since 1951, Purest electoral rolls and enthusiastic participation of electors. Transparent and dedicated election machinery. Democracy wins. It has been an amazing journey for ECL”

The two-phase Bihar elections saw a historic voter turnout of 67.13%, with 71.6% turnout for women and 62.8% for men.

According to the officials quoted above, the SIR removed 2.2 million deceased voters, people who permanently shifted or not found accounted for 3.6 million and people enrolled in multiple places accounted for 700,000. The final electoral roll featured 74.2 million people.