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Key Points

The Congress Party has raised serious concerns about the Bihar voter list revision process conducted by the Election Commission of India. They've highlighted significant discrepancies, including unexplained voter additions and deletions across multiple constituencies. The party is demanding complete transparency and a machine-readable version of the voter list to enable independent analysis. These allegations echo Rahul Gandhi's earlier claims about potential electoral roll manipulation.

Key Points: Congress Challenges Bihar Voter List Amid ECI Transparency Concerns

  • Congress reveals 30 lakh voter reduction in Bihar electoral rolls
  • Party flags unexplained 4.6 lakh voter additions
  • Over 67 lakh names deleted during voter list revision
  • 5 lakh duplicate voters remain in final rolls
2 min read

Congress raises questions over Bihar's revised voter list, alleges lack of transparency

Congress alleges irregularities in Bihar's voter list, questioning ECI's transparency and demanding explanations for voter additions and deletions.

"What is it scared of? - Congress Party, Questioning ECI's Voter List Methodology"

Patna, Oct 8

Congress has raised serious questions about the transparency of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the voter list conducted by the Election Commission of India (ECI) ahead of the upcoming Bihar Assembly elections.

In a letter addressed to the Election Commission, the party alleged that despite repeated requests, the ECI has failed to provide a machine-readable version of the updated voter list, making any independent analysis extremely difficult.

The letter stated, "Despite several pleas by the Congress party, the ECI has not made available a machine-readable voter list, which makes any analysis of the voter list very cumbersome. Further, the ECI did not make the voter list available as one consolidated list but released it as 90,000 separate image files. Why is the ECI so hesitant to make voter lists easy to analyse? What is it scared of?"

According to Congress, the final list published by the ECI shows 7.42 crore registered voters in Bihar - about 30 lakh fewer voters than the number recorded during the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

The party questioned who these voters are and how many of them had cast their votes in the parliamentary polls last year.

The party further claimed that while the ECI reported adding 21.53 lakh new voters, official Form-6 applications were available for only 16.93 lakh, leaving 4.6 lakh additions unexplained.

"Were these voters added without due process?" the Congress asked, adding that 67.3 lakh names were deleted during the revision exercise, with over 10% of these deletions concentrated in just 15 assembly constituencies.

The party also alleged that more than five lakh duplicate voters remain in the final rolls despite the extensive revision process.

"What was the point of the SIR if there are still more than 5 lakh duplicates? How will the ECI verify and clean these now?" the letter questioned.

Congress demanded that the ECI immediately release a final list of all deleted voters with booth - and category-wise details and ensure that elections are conducted strictly on the rolls finalised on the last date of nomination.

The letter reiterated Rahul Gandhi's earlier allegations about irregularities in electoral rolls and their potential misuse to manipulate outcomes.

"The Congress party welcomes all efforts to clean voter lists and make them transparent. Answering these questions will be an important step by the ECI to regain public confidence in the integrity of the electoral process," the letter concluded.

- IANS

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Reader Comments

P
Priya S
As someone who works with data, releasing 90,000 image files instead of a consolidated list is ridiculous! This makes proper analysis impossible. What's the point of revision if duplicates still exist? 🤔
A
Aditya G
While I support cleaning voter lists, Congress should also look at their own states. Every party does this before elections. But ECI needs to be more transparent - this affects every citizen's right to vote.
M
Meera T
4.6 lakh voters added without proper forms? This is alarming! My uncle in Patna couldn't find his name in the last revision. ECI must answer these questions properly. Our democracy deserves better 🙏
S
Sarah B
Living in Bihar for 3 years now, I've seen how important every vote is. The concentration of deletions in just 15 constituencies raises serious questions. Hope ECI addresses this properly before elections.
R
Rahul R
Valid questions raised by Congress. But they should have raised these concerns earlier, not just before elections. All parties need to work together to ensure fair elections. Jai Hind!

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