On 11thย August, the I.N.D.I. Allianceย marched to the Election Commission of Indiaโ€™s (ECI) New Delhi headquarters, marching against the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the Bihar electoral registers and at the same time claiming โ€˜vote choriโ€™ and voter list discrepancies. They claimed that the drive would result in disenfranchisement and charged that was an attempt by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) led-government to steal votes.

The Mahagathbandhan in Bihar has been on the edge since the campaign began to eradicate fraudulent voters and update the voter list prior to the forthcoming state elections. Senior leaders such as Tejashwi Yadav have been throwing outrageous allegations against the EC, in support of the bogus voters and have even threatened to boycott the polls.

However, members from all political parties have been included throughout the entire process to ensure transparency. Hence, as the top opposition leadership engaged in unfounded accusations and political dramatics while disregarding the truth, their Booth Level Agents (BLAs) exposed the propaganda of their own leaders.

What did the BLAs say

The Navada district representative of the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) stated that the complete voter list has been reviewed in a timely manner and provided to them. โ€œThe authorities have also given the names of voters who have been removed for various reasons, including relocation or name duplication. These names will be forwarded to the Panchayat and booth heads,โ€ he expressed.

โ€œThe Booth Level Officers (BLOs) and Booth Level Assistants (BLAs) will decide on the subsequent actions. Any mistakes discovered will be corrected during the objection window which is open from 1st August to 1st September. We feel comfortable. There are no issues in our area. No political parties have troubled the authorities during this exercise,โ€ the RJD member voiced and thanked the district administration for the smooth execution of the program.

According to Om Prakash Sharma, the Congress district president of Gopalganj, a copy of the voter list for the region, released by the authorities, has been distributed to the political parties, including the names of those who have been excluded from the list. โ€œWe are allotted a month to contest or amend any inaccuracies related to the removed names.โ€ he added.

Akhilesh Kumar, the Congress district president of Purnia, announced that a meeting was held with the district administration concerning the voter list. The lists have been provided to us, and we have been instructed to assist in including individuals whose names were omitted and to verify whether those who have relocated or passed away is indeed accurate.

โ€œWe will assist the BLOs through our BLAs. The updated list has also been provided to all political parties. We are pleased with the performance of the district administration. We will support them to the best of our ability, and the authorities are doing an excellent job, without a doubt,โ€ he pointed out.

Multiple videos exist featuring the BLAs of the opposition parties who expressed their confidence in the process and commended the administration for carrying out the revision transparently, ensuring the involvement of every stakeholder.

EC counters the oppositionโ€™s propaganda

As the BLAs dismantled the narrative propagated by their senior leaders, the Election Commission similarly debunked the Mahagathbandhanโ€™s lies with evidence, statistics and testimonies from the BLAs regarding the SIR exercise in Bihar.

The commission had earlier explained how the entire drive was implemented with the complete involvement of all political parties and the actions taken to ensure utmost transparency and rectify any errors. Nevertheless, it had to reiterate the same points as the opposition started to circulate misinformation concerning the campaign.

Rahul Gandhi alleged โ€œvoter theftโ€ while sharing images of the protest by the opposition MPs on social media. However, the Election Commission swiftly responded with multiple links demonstrating that the entire process was conducted with great transparency.

It mentioned that meetings with BLAs were conducted before, during and following the publication of the electorate roll draft. The ECI outlined that while senior leaders persist in their allegations, no political party has actually filed any complaints or objections in relation to the draft rolls till now, illustrating that the protests are merely for political purposes without any factual basis.

The misleading claims of the grand old party were similarly invalidated as the Election Commission posted the links, which even featured several statements from the BLAs of opposition parties, asserting that the drive had been conducted in a transparent manner with their full involvement while simultaneously addressing their grievances.

The RJD accused the Election Commission of adopting an anti-democratic position and has alleged that it has conspired to undermine the voting rights of the impoverished, marginalized, Dalit and minority communities in Bihar under the guise of SIR.

Nevertheless, the commission repeated that the utmost level of transparency was guaranteed throughout the process, which involved members of political parties. Likewise, it highlighted that BLAs from each party were included, regular meetings were held with them, they were kept informed as well as played a vital role at every stage of the process. The authorities also provided them with voter lists concerning their respective areas, including the revised ones.

SIR drive in Bihar

The ECโ€™s SIR program has revealed a significant number of fraudulent voters in Bihar. It uncovered around 65 lakh non-existent voters who were then purged from the electoral rolls. The names that have been deleted are mostly those of people who have passed away or who were not found at their registered addresses.

However, the widespread removal of names in some districts, especially in Kishanganj which is predominantly Muslim, has been surprising. A record 1.45 lakh names have been deleted from the list there. This represents an incredible 11.8% of all voters in the district. In an election where even a 4-5% margin can make a difference, it can easily swing the outcome.

The opposition in the state has been mobilizing since the initiative was announced. A significant number of these counterfeit voters are their supporters. Importantly, numerous foreign illegals including Bangladeshis were also identified with Aadhaar cards and other documents during the operation.

Now, a similar drive is set to occur in West Bengal which has alarmed the All India Trinamool Congress and its supremo, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee who has been an outspoken advocate for Bangladeshi infiltrators. Consequently, the entire opposition has come together to contest the SIR drive which contrary to the accusations, supports democracy by prioritizing legitimate voters and removing the deceased, emigrated or fake ones.

Notably, the researchers who had warned about around 70 lakh fake voters in Bihar, an estimate that was found nearly correct, have now in another study highlighted that around 1 crore excess voters in may be existing in the electoral roll for West Bengal in 2024.



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