EC silent on non-citizens removed from Bihar voter list: Congress

The Congress party on Tuesday, 7 October, sharply criticised the Election Commission (EC) over the ongoing special intensive revision (SIR) of the electoral rolls in Bihar, questioning the integrity of the exercise and highlighting the lack of transparency regarding the removal of non-citizens.

Jairam Ramesh, Congress general secretary in-charge of communications, said the EC has failed to inform the public about how many non-citizens in Bihar were removed from the voter list. He argued that disclosure of such numbers would have further exposed the shortcomings of the poll body.

“Much was made of the need of the SIR exercise to remove non-citizens from the electoral roll. The EC has not had the integrity or the courage to enlighten the country on how many such non-citizens in Bihar were removed,” Ramesh said. “If it had done so, it would have been even more exposed than it already is.”

Sharing an analysis of the SIR exercise published in a newspaper on X, Ramesh added, “This fine analysis shows that the entire SIR exercise bulldozed through by the Election Commission has failed on all three counts of completeness, equity, and accuracy.”

The Congress’s criticism comes as the Supreme Court hearing on the Bihar SIR exercise resumes on Tuesday, following protests from Opposition parties who allege that the EC is acting at the behest of the ruling BJP, a charge the Commission has strongly denied. The EC has maintained that it will ensure that no eligible citizen is left out of the electoral roll while also preventing ineligible persons from being included.

Bihar is set to vote in two phases on 6 and 11 November, with counting scheduled for 14 November. The elections will decide the fate of the ruling NDA government led by chief minister Nitish Kumar, facing challenges from the Opposition bloc comprising the RJD, Congress, and allies.

The SIR exercise, aimed at purging ineligible voters from the rolls ahead of the polls, has emerged as a contentious issue, with the Opposition asserting it may affect electoral fairness.

With PTI inputs