Patna: On the concerns over the accuracy of voter data during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process in the state, Bihar BJP President Dilip Jaiswal on July 24 raised questions whether names of deceased individuals and duplicate entries had been properly removed before releasing the initial figures.
“Should the names of those who have died be removed or not? Before presenting the initial data, one should exclude the data of the deceased. For people whose names are listed in the electoral roll in two places, should their name appear twice? The data should be adjusted accordingly before speaking,” Jaiswal told ANI.
The BJP state chief also pointed out errors related to incorrect addresses in the voter list, saying, “Individuals who have provided an incorrect address accounts for approximately one lakh people. When discussing data, we should subtract these factors and refrain from asking questions about them.”
Jaiswal’s remarks came during an ongoing review of the Special Intensive Revision drive conducted by the Election Commission to clean up the electoral rolls in Bihar ahead of the upcoming Assembly polls.
The Election Commission had earlier launched the SIR campaign to ensure voter rolls are updated with accurate entries, including removing duplicates and names of deceased individuals, while also adding new eligible voters.
Bihar Assembly elections are expected to be held later this year in October or November; however, the Election Commission of India (ECI) has not announced an official date.
While the NDA, comprising the BJP, JD(U), and LJP, will once again seek to continue its stint in Bihar, the INDIA bloc, comprising the RJD, Congress, and Left parties, will aim to unseat Nitish Kumar.
In the 243 member-strong Bihar Assembly at present, the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) consists of 131 members, with the BJP having 80 MLAs, JD(U) having 45, HAM(S) having four, and the support of two Independent Candidates.
The Opposition’s INDIA bloc comprises 111 members, with the RJD leading with 77 MLAs, followed by the Congress with 19, the CPI(ML) with 11, and CPI(M) and CPI with two each. (ANI)
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