EC hits back at parties amid row over deletions from draft rolls

The Election Commission of India accused opposition parties on Saturday of raising electoral roll concerns at the wrong time, and scheduled a press conference for Sunday that will coincide with Congress launching a statewide yatra in poll-bound Bihar

- Vrinda Tulsian

The commission is scheduled to address a briefing at 3pm on Sunday, as Congress leader Rahul Gandhi begins a 16-day “Voter Adhikar Yatra” in Bihar against what the opposition party says is alleged voter fraud via the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) that has led to 6.5 million people being excluded from the state's electoral rolls. “It seems that some political parties and their Booth Level Agents (BLAs) did not examine the electoral rolls at the appropriate time and did not point out errors, if any, to SDMs/EROs, DEOs or CEOs,” EC said in a statement on Saturday, referring to a process that occurs yearly.

The poll body said parties are now raising concerns outside the designated process. “Recently, some political parties and individuals are raising issues about errors in electoral rolls, including the electoral rolls prepared in the past,” it said.