Parties, people to get one month to include, remove names from draft rolls: CEC to Bihar voters

Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar on Thursday said that political parties and electors will be given one full month to add names of eligible citizens or remove names of those they think are ineligible from the draft electoral rolls of Bihar to be published on August 1. In a statement to the voters, the CEC said that as part of the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls of the state, the draft electoral rolls for Bihar are being published on Friday. Physical as well as digital copies will also be given to all the recognised political parties in Bihar in all the 38 districts by the district election officers (DEOs), Kumar said. "The chief electoral officer (CEO) of Bihar and the 243 electoral registration officers (EROs) will also be inviting any elector of that Assembly constituency or any recognised political party to come forward and give claims and objections from August 1 to September 1 for adding names of any missing eligible elector, removing names of any ineligible elector or correction of any entry in the draft rolls," he said.

The CEC's remarks come amid continuous protests by the opposition parties against the SIR, claiming that it will deny eligible citizens of their to right vote for want of documents. They also alleged that the local poll machinery in Bihar could be manipulated by the ruling BJP-JD (U) alliance to its benefit. The protests have disrupted both Houses of Parliament on a daily basis during the ongoing Monsoon session.