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Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar defended the SIR exercise in Bihar, questioning if dead, duplicate, or foreign voters should remain on the rolls.
Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar (Photo: PTI)
Amid continued protests by the Opposition the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Bihar, Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar defended the exercise and asked if the Election Commission should allow dead voters to feature on the voter list.
Speaking exclusively to CNN-News18, the CEC also asked if people with duplicate Elector Photo Identity Cards (EPICs) and foreigners should be allowed to be featured on the voter list.
“Should the Election Commission allow dead voters to be on the voter list?” he asked.
“Should people with duplicate EPICs be allowed? Should foreigners be allowed on the voter list? What is the objection about?” the CEC said, emphasising that a sacrosanct voter list is the foundation of a successful democracy.
The Chief Election Commissioner’s remark came at a time when the Opposition parties, led by the Rashtriya Janata Dal and the Congress, have alleged that more than 50 lakh voters stand to be disenfranchised following the SIR exercise.
On Wednesday, the Election Commission, in a statement, had said that 56 lakh voters have been found ineligible, the other 20 lakh deceased, 28 lakh voters who have moved out of Bihar, 7 lakh voters were found registered in two places, and another one lakh who can’t be traced.
Talking to CNN-News18 in the same reference, the CEC asked, “Should the Election Commission not weed out such voters?”
“Isn’t the pure electoral roll being prepared by the Election Commission through a transparent process, a foundation stone for fair elections and a strong democracy?” he asked.
“At some point or the other, we all, and all the citizens of India, must think deeply about these questions together, going beyond political ideologies,” CEC Gyanesh Kumar opined.
A day earlier, Bihar Leader of the Opposition Tejashwi Yadav had threatened to boycott the upcoming elections in the state if the SIR exercise was not stopped.
When asked by news agency IANS about his boycott statement, Tejaswi said, “Will see what people want and what our allies say.”
“If the state polls are conducted in a partial and manipulative manner, where it is already decided who would win what number of seats, what is the use of conducting such an election?” he asked.
“We may consider boycotting the upcoming state assembly elections in Bihar after taking feedback from people and our (alliance) partners,” Tejashwi Yadav said.
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Arunima is Editor (Home Affairs) and covers strategic, security and political affairs. From the Ukraine-Russia War to the India-China stand-off in Ladakh to India-Pak clashes, she has reported from ground zero …Read More
Arunima is Editor (Home Affairs) and covers strategic, security and political affairs. From the Ukraine-Russia War to the India-China stand-off in Ladakh to India-Pak clashes, she has reported from ground zero … Read More
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