Patna: Senior Congress leader Pawan Khera on Sunday charged the Election Commission with turning down 89 lakh claims and objections filed by its booth-level agents (BLAs) in Bihar after publication of the draft electoral rolls.
Addressing a press conference here, Khera alleged that the irregularities cast a doubt on the intention of the EC, and demanded that the SIR be conducted again.
In response, the EC initially claimed that no BLA had submitted any claim or objection, but in another statement a few hours later, asserted that the complaints of Congress were not received in the prescribed format, but needful steps are being taken.
“The EC keeps getting news planted through its sources that no complaints are coming from any political party. The truth is that the Congress submitted 89 lakh complaints pertaining to irregularities in the SIR to the EC. When our BLAs went to file complaints, their complaints were turned down by the EC,” he claimed.
“The EC categorically told our BLAs that complaints could be accepted by individuals only, not by political parties,” the chairman of the media and publicity department of the Congress claimed.
The Congress demands that the entire SIR exercise be re-conducted, he said, adding that the “large-scale irregularities” in the SIR cast a doubt on the intentions of the EC.
“Our BLAs left no stone unturned in filing complaints and objections of those voters whose names were deleted, and all applications were submitted to the District Election Officer (DEOs) concerned,” he said.
The senior Congress leader said that the names of 65 lakh voters of Bihar were deleted from the electoral rolls by the EC from 90,540 booths in the state.
While 25 lakh voters were deleted due to migration, the names of 22 lakh people were removed as they are not alive. Names of 9,70,000 voters were deleted as they were found absent at the given addresses, he said.
“The total number of booths where more than 100 names were deleted is 20,368, and the number of booths where more than 200 names were deleted is 1,988. There are 7,613 booths where more than 70 per cent of women’s names were deleted,” Khera claimed.
There are 635 booths where more than 75 per cent of the deleted names in the migrant category are women, he said, adding that it is very important to verify these figures.
There are plenty of cases where a single voter has been given two EPIC numbers, Khera claimed.
However, the office of the Chief Electoral Officer denied the charges, saying, “Till date, no BLA authorised by any district president of the Indian National Congress in Bihar has submitted any claim (Form 6) or objection (Form 7) on any name in the draft electoral rolls published on August 1 in the prescribed format so far”.
Later, the CEO’s office issued another statement saying that electoral registration officers (EROs) will take a comprehensive decision regarding the process only after “considering the representation submitted by the district Congress presidents and taking their oath as prescribed”.
The Supreme Court, in its August 22 order, has also clarified that if 12 political parties submit information about incorrect names in the electoral roll, the EROs concerned must record such information in the prescribed proforma and take necessary action, said the statement.
On the allegations of duplicate voters in the draft rolls, the CEO’s office said that the current draft rolls published under the SIR are not final.
They are explicitly intended for public scrutiny, inviting claims and objections from electors, political parties, and all other stakeholders, it said.
