The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Tuesday invited public opinions on a number of points pertaining to the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, precipitating a bitter war of words between ruling and opposition parties in Bihar, sources told The Hindu.
Five questions have been prepared for seeking public opinion, apparently as part of efforts towards enhancing its voter authentication scheme. Although the official notification is yet to come out, the questions revolve around
Whether rolls of voters must be thoroughly revised and scrutinized.
Removal of the dead from the electoral rolls.
Erasure of duplicates' names of electors enrolled in more than one place.
Exclusion of those who have moved to other states.
Disfranchisement of outsiders and foreigners.
Such an unapproved survey, according to ECI sources, will try to sneakily test public mood in the poll-state while defying allegations by opposition parties of systematic disenfranchisement of voters.
Opposition parties recently accused the poll panel directly of voter tampering and collusion with the BJP, which led to a Supreme Court order to ensure that every eligible voter is covered in the rolls.
Under SIR, thousands of Booth Level Officers (BLOs) on a party-political footing with Booth Level Agents (BLAs) picked by political parties carried out the voter verification campaign between June 25 and July 25. Although the campaign was opposed, tensions mounted following the publication of draft electoral rolls on August 1.
Opposition parties led by Congress accused ECI of rolling rolls to diminish their voter base—a charge the commission vehemently dismissed. The issue of "vote chori" (vote theft) gained momentum, with allegations of deceased voters being kept on the rolls and actual voters being denied their right.
The ECI reacted with a press conference not just to refute opposition allegations but also to chide them for levelling "baseless and unfounded allegations."
While political heat regarding SIR remains in Bihar, the latest overtures by the commission could be a response to negative reporting and an attempt to restore public faith in the voter verification system.
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