The Election Commission of India (ECI) has initiated a Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voters' lists in Bihar prior to the assembly elections, seeking to confirm the eligibility of all voters in the state's 243 constituencies, the poll panel announced in a formal statement on Saturday.
As per its constitutional responsibility enshrined under Article 326, the commission has the responsibility to ensure that only Indian citizens aged 18 years and above who are ordinary residents of a constituency are enrolled as voters.
"Special Intensive Revision (SIR) has commenced successfully in Bihar for checking the eligibility of every elector with complete participation of all the political parties," the ECI said.
As per the commission, more than 1 lakh volunteers will help authentic electors at the revision exercise with special emphasis on vulnerable communities including the elderly, persons with disabilities (PwDs), the ill, the poor, and others.
Door-to-door delivery of new Enumeration Forms (EF) for over 7.8 crore current voters is also part of large-scale revision.
"Filling up the new Enumeration Forms online has already started successfully. Out of the current 7,89,69,844 electors, almost 4.96 crore voters—those already registered in the last exhaustive revision of the electoral roll as on 1 January 2003—just have to correct their details, fill up the EF, and send it," the EC stated.
77,895 BLOs have been appointed by the commission to conduct the exercise, with a further 20,603 BLOs proposed to be inducted for new polling stations. All the recognized national and state parties have, however, appointed 1,54,977 BLAs, with an option to appoint more.
The SIR campaign is being conducted with continuous full-time involvement of all BLOs by Divisional Commissioners and District Magistrates.
The ECI is also dispatching SMS reminders on more than 5.74 crore enrolled mobile phone numbers in the state, keeping citizens informed regarding the revision process.
But the move has invited stern opposition from opposition leaders who have criticized the commission of trying to reintroduce the National Register of Citizens (NRC) by the back door.
Trinamool Congress MP Derek O'Brien compared the EC's verification campaign to actions taken by the Nazis in Nazi Germany in the 1930s. "The EC is attempting to introduce the NRC through the back door.
In 1935 in Nazi Germany, you were supposed to be issued an ancestor pass. Is this the new Nazi Ancestor Pass?" he asked and said that the INDIA bloc would seek to raise the issue both within and outside Parliament.
Echoing such fears, AIMIM leader Asaduddin Owaisi cautioned that the action would disenfranchise large numbers of genuine Indian citizens and harm public faith in the electoral process.
"This is an attempt to introduce the NRC in Bihar. It has the potential to disqualify genuine citizens from voting and undermines confidence in the Election Commission," he told.
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