Bihar SIR: Parties, people to get one month to include, remove names from draft rolls, says EC

The Election Commission of India on Thursday said that all political parties and electors will be given a time period of one month to add names of eligible citizens or remove names of those they think are ineligible from the draft electoral rolls of Bihar. In a statement, Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumarthe announced that as part of the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Bihar, the draft electoral rolls will be published on August 1. Physical as well as digital copies will also be given to all the recognised political parties in Bihar in all the 38 districts by the district election officers (DEOs), Kumar said. The chief electoral officer (CEO) of Bihar and the 243 electoral registration officers (EROs) will also be inviting any elector of that Assembly constituency or any recognised political party to come forward and give claims and objections from August 1 to September 1 for adding names of any missing eligible elector, removing names of any ineligible elector or correction of any entry in the draft rolls, he said. The CEC's remarks come amid continuous protests by the opposition parties against the SIR, which have disrupted both Houses of Parliament on a daily basis during the ongoing Monsoon session. Opposition parties have alleged that the ongoing revision may disenfranchise eligible voters due to lack of documents and could unfairly target those opposed to the ruling alliance. 'If there is mass exclusion of voters, we'll step in': SC on Bihar SIR; hearing to start from August 12