Saying that the special intensive revision (SIR) undertaken after 22 years in Bihar has "purified" the electoral rolls, the Election Commission (EC) on Sunday revealed that 17 new initiatives rolled out for the upcoming assembly polls in the state would subsequently be introduced across the country. The commission also rubbished opposition allegations challenging the genuineness of the SIR as a "big success."
Speaking at a media conference after his two-day trip to Bihar to review poll preparations, Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar stated that the SIR aimed to ensure that no eligible voter was excluded and no ineligible individual was included.
“We launched 17 new initiatives for Bihar and many of them were successfully implemented. The remaining ones will be implemented during the conduct of assembly elections and counting of votes,” Kumar said, adding, “Bihar ab pure desh ko rah dikhane ja raha hai (Bihar is now going to show the way to the entire country).”
He further stated that the electoral rolls had been "purified" after 22 years.
“Something was written about the SIR process on social media, but it is also a fact that 7.42 crore electors from Bihar happily welcomed it and joined the exercise with much enthusiasm,” Kumar said.
Kumar mentioned that the SIR is a statutory requirement and has to be done prior to each election. He was joined by election commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi in ensuring that the dates for the Bihar assembly polls would be declared "very soon," with voting for the 243-member house ending before the term expires on November 22.
“We listened to the views of various political parties over phase-wise voting in Bihar during our stay in the state capital and the EC will take a decision over the issue very soon,” he said.
Kumar also urged the voters to celebrate the coming elections with the same passion as the Chhath festival, speaking to the audience in Maithili and Bhojpuri.
Explaining the SIR process, he added 65 lakh voter names were deleted prior to publication of the draft roll in August, and another 3.66 lakh were erased during the claims and objections month.
“Those whose names have been removed were found ineligible as they were either not citizens of the country, or were dead, or had migrated elsewhere, or had their names registered at more than one place,” he said, without providing a breakdown of deletions.
Kumar further stated that individuals who believed their names were inaccurately deleted could again appeal to the district election office.
The 17 new proposals are 100% webcasting of polling stations, a voter cap of 1,200 per booth, and a new SOP for card delivery within 15 days of registration. Other proposals are a mobile deposit facility outside polling stations, compulsory VVPAT verification in the event of a complaint, bigger serial numbers on ballot papers, candidate photos on the EVM, counting postal ballots prior to final rounds, and digital index cards with voter figures.
The SIR was a massive and meticulous exercise and we must thank all 243 electoral registration officers and over 90,000 booth level officers who completed it in time,” Kumar said, adding that the EC intends to replicate these innovations across India in coming years.
He appealed to political parties to deploy polling and counting agents at every booth for transparency.
On Aadhaar, Kumar explained:
“Aadhaar cannot be considered proof of date of birth, proof of residence, or proof of citizenship,” adding that it serves only as proof of identity, a position upheld by the Supreme Court.
The CEC declined to disclose how many “foreign infiltrators” had been identified during the SIR process and avoided commenting on Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s “atom bomb” or “hydrogen bomb” remarks.
