Bihar’s Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) has responded to Congress’ claims regarding 89 lakh alleged irregularities in the state’s electoral rolls. Congress had said its Booth Level Agents (BLAs) flagged these issues during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voter lists. However, the CEO clarified that the complaints were not submitted in the proper legal format, and therefore could not be officially considered.
Earlier, senior Congress leader Pawan Khera accused the Election Commission (EC) of ignoring the complaints and demanded that the entire voter revision exercise be redone. He claimed that the EC deleted names of around 65 lakh voters from 90,540 booths across Bihar. According to Khera, 25 lakh names were removed due to migration, 22 lakh because the voters had passed away, and 9,70,000 because people were absent at their registered addresses.
Khera highlighted that more than 100 names were deleted from 20,368 booths, over 200 names from 1,988 booths, and more than 70 percent of women’s names were removed from 7,613 booths. He insisted that these actions raised serious doubts about the fairness of the SIR process.
In response, the CEO firmly rejected all claims, stating that no BLA authorized by any Congress district president had submitted complaints in the legally prescribed forms—Form 6 for claims or Form 7 for objections—regarding names on the draft electoral rolls published on August 1. The CEO added that the applications submitted by Pradesh Congress Committee presidents were forwarded to the Electoral Registration Officers only for information, as they were not in the correct format.
The CEO also emphasized that the deletion of voters’ names will follow proper legal verification under Rule 20(3)(b) of the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960. No voter will be removed arbitrarily, and the Electoral Registration Officers will use discretion to ensure all actions comply with legal requirements.
This clarification comes amid heated political accusations, with Congress questioning the EC’s impartiality and transparency. The CEO’s statement stresses that proper legal procedures must be followed, and all voter deletions will be carefully verified before finalization.
The dispute highlights the importance of submitting complaints in the correct format and following official procedures during electoral roll revisions to avoid misunderstandings and maintain electoral integrity.
