‘Names of Nepalese, Bangladeshis found in Bihar electoral rolls’
New Delhi: The Election Commission has activated its poll machinery across states for a possible rollout of pan-India special intensive revision (SIR) next month just like the one being carried out in Bihar.
The move comes after the Supreme Court last week called the SIR a “constitutional mandate” and permitted the poll panel to continue with the exercise in Bihar.
EC officials said on Sunday that field-level functionaries of the Election Commission have found “a large number of people” from Nepal, Bangladesh and Myanmar during house-to-house visits made for the ongoing intensive review of the voters’ list in Bihar, They asserted that a proper inquiry of such people will be conducted after August 1 and the names of illegal migrants will not be included in the final electoral roll to be published on September 30.
Several Opposition parties and others had moved the top court challenging the intensive revision, saying it will deprive eligible citizens of their right to vote.
Some of the state chief electoral officers have started putting out voters’ list published after the last SIR held in their states.
The website of Delhi CEO has the 2008 voters’ list when the last intensive revision took place in the national capital. In Uttarakhand, the last SIR took place in 2006 and that year’s electoral roll is now on the state CEO website.
The last SIR in states will serve as cut off dates as 2003 voters list of Bihar is being used by the EC for intensive revision. Most of the states carried out the revision of electoral rolls between 2002 and 2004.
The poll authority will take a final call on nationwide exercise after July 28 when the Bihar SIR case will come up again for hearing in the top court, an official suggested.
The Election Commission announced that it will eventually carry out an intensive review of electoral rolls across India to remove foreign illegal migrants by checking their place of birth.
Bihar is going to polls this year while assembly polls in these five other states – Assam, Kerala, Puducherry, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal – are scheduled in 2026.
The move assumes significance in the wake of a crackdown in various states on illegal foreign migrants, including from Bangladesh and Myanmar.
Citing ground reports, EC officials said that during house-to-house visits in Bihar, “a large number” of people from Nepal, Bangladesh and Myanmar have been found by booth-level officers.
In the fourth phase of intensive revision in Bihar, the draft electoral roll will be published on August 1. The list will include all electors whose forms have been received by the deadline.
Names for which no enumeration form has been submitted before July 25 will not appear in the draft roll.
Electoral registration officers and assistant electoral registration officers will scrutinise the forms against the eligibility criteria laid down in Article 326 of the Constitution, which requires electors to be Indian citizens, aged 18 or above, and ordinarily resident in the constituency.
Copies of the draft roll will be provided to recognised political parties free of cost and uploaded on the EC website.
Electors who miss the initial deadline can still apply during the claims and objections period using Form 6 along with a declaration form. Booth-level agents (BLAs) can continue to submit up to 10 forms per day even after the draft roll is published.
In the fifth phase, from August 1 to September 1, any member of the public can file claims and objections. During this time, the electoral registration officers and assistant electoral registration officers will scrutinise applications and objections.
The public can file claims for inclusion or raise objections to existing entries in the draft roll. No deletion will be made without due inquiry and providing the person concerned a fair hearing.
The final electoral roll will be published on September 30.
