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CPI-ML (L) Gen Sec seeks withdrawal of electoral roll revision, says onus on govt to prove citizenship

CPI-ML (L) Gen Sec seeks withdrawal of electoral roll revision, says onus on govt to prove citizenship

NEW DELHI: CPI-ML (Liberation) general secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya on Tuesday sought withdrawal of special intensive revision (SIR) of the electoral rolls in Bihar. He said that the decision is arbitrary and utterly ill-planned.
The Left party further urged the Election Commission of India (ECI) to conduct the polls on the basis of normal updating of the electoral roll as has been done in every election over the last two decades.
"The focus must be on facilitating electors in the exercise of their franchise and not creating difficulties and excluding electors from the election process. The more the ECI seeks to provide clarification about the Special Intensive Revision of the Electoral Roll in Bihar, the more confusing and misleading it gets," he said.
Bhattacharya further questioned why the ECI is now trying to trivialise the SIR by saying rolls are revised annually.
He said that the last time a Special Intensive Revision was conducted was 22 years ago. It is certainly not a routine annual exercise, he added.
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