Bihar elections: SC agrees to hear pleas challenging EC's electoral roll decision amid political uproar
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Bihar's SIR impact
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Amid a political uproar, the Supreme Court has agreed to hear a batch of pleas challenging the Election Commission of India 's move to conduct a Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in poll-bound Bihar on July 10.The move comes as the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and the Trinamool Congress (TMC) approached the apex court, challenging the poll panel's decision to carry out a electoral rolls' revision activity in Bihar just months ahead of the Assembly elections. RJD's Manoj Jha has contended that one of the most affected classes are the migrant workers, many of whom despite remaining listed in the 2003 voter rolls, are unlikely to be able to return to Bihar within the stipulated time frame of 30 days to submit their enumeration forms leading to automatic deletion of their names from the electoral roll in violation of R 21A of the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960.Congress had also indicated that they were exploring multiple options, including legal action and a mass agitation, to oppose the SIR in poll-bound Bihar, according to an ET report.Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera told reporters that the party had 'lost all faith in the ECI brass' after a meeting between Opposition leaders and the Election Commission the previous day. He alleged that the Commission's top officials were behaving like 'bicholia' (middlemen) of the government.Meanwhile, the Election Commission on Friday said that nearly 87 per cent of Bihar's 7.96 crore voters have already been provided with semi-filled enumeration forms as part of the ongoing SIR exercise. The forms were distributed during the first visit of booth-level officers (BLOs) to nearly 1.5 crore households across the state.According to the EC, over 6.86 crore forms have been handed out so far, with nearly 38 lakh already collected by BLOs. The Commission stated that the revision process is guided by the principle of 'Inclusion First' to ensure that no eligible voter is left out.In addition, around 1.55 lakh booth-level agents (BLAs) appointed by political parties are also taking part in the process. Each BLA is allowed to submit up to 50 certified forms per day.The 2025 SIR in Bihar is different on several counts. While an 'intensive' revision mostly involves a 'de novo' exercise, drawing up a fresh electoral roll from the scratch, the Bihar SIR is using the 2002-03 electoral roll as a base to build upon. At the same time, it involves a new pre-printed enumeration form included in the usual house-to-house verification format and document submission, associated with an 'intensive' revision. It is, also, very different from previous intensive revision exercises in terms of timing.EC has seldom ordered a full state and full-scale intensive revision in a state 4-6 months ahead of scheduled assembly elections, as is the case with Bihar. Bihar saw its last intensive revision in 2002, a good three years away from the assembly polls held in October 2005.Similarly, when the EC, on June 29, 2004 announced an intensive roll revision in eight states, it chose to leave out two states which were pending a similar intensive roll revision. These were Arunachal Pradesh & Maharashtra where assembly polls were due in October 2004.The EC has, in fact, often conducted 'intensive' revision in certain areas of a state.
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