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Time of India

Oppn's ‘bulk' objections to SIR not entertained: EC

Patna: The Election Commission (EC) has defended its handling of Bihar's special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, saying objections from opposition parties were not entertained as they were sent "in bulk" rather than individually, as required under the prescribed procedure. The EC said such submissions could not be processed under the formal "claims and objections" mechanism, but were being treated as general complaints and verified accordingly. The clarification came after the opposition INDIA bloc accused the EC of "doing politics" and attempting to set a "narrative" that no political party had submitted complaints about the draft voter roll published on Aug 1. The EC's latest bulletin on Tuesday reiterated that no "claims or objections" had been filed by any of the 12 recognised national and state parties in the 11 days since publication. However, the EC confirmed receiving 13,970 claims and objections directly from individual electors, 341 of which have already been disposed of. Leader of the opposition in Bihar Assembly, Tejashwi Pratap Yadav, said the bloc was not questioning the SIR itself but the manner in which it was carried out. "We are not questioning the special intensive revision, rather the way it was carried out. There could be no bigger crime than an elector missing the chance to cast their vote," he said, alleging that many names had been deleted from the rolls, while some electors lacked documents or were living outside the state. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like NRIs Living In Ukraine Are Eligible For INR 2 Lakh Monthly Pension. Invest 18K/Month Get Offer Undo He accused the BJP of using the EC to achieve "what it has failed to do itself." Tejashwi also claimed the EC had repeatedly ignored Supreme Court guidance and accused it of misusing its position as a constitutional body. Referring to deputy chief minister Vijay Kumar Sinha allegedly possessing two EPICs, he said, "Nobody would have perhaps known that if I had not exposed it." Congress legislature party leader in the assembly, Shakeel Ahmad Khan, alleged that "an uncountable number" of claims and objections had been sent to the EC, which he accused of "denying reality." He said Rahul Gandhi's request for an appointment to present proof of "vote chori" was declined. RJD spokesperson Chitranjan Gagan argued that the opposition had sought a category-wise list of voters marked as dead, shifted or duplicated, but had not received it, making it difficult for party agents to file claims or objections in the required format. CPI-ML state secretary Kunal claimed hundreds of objections had been filed through booth-level and local committees, citing one complaint about the deletion of 63 names under the Jale Assembly constituency. He alleged that the EC was "trying to set a narrative" that nothing was wrong with the rolls. An EC official, however, maintained that parties had failed to follow the stipulated procedure. "They were supposed not to send the claims/objections in bulk but one by one. So they were not entertained," the official said, adding that the submissions were now being reviewed as general complaints to verify their authenticity. Stay updated with the latest local news from your city on Times of India (TOI). Check upcoming bank holidays , public holidays , and current gold rates and silver prices in your area.