Gyanesh Kumar
Nationwide SIR Preparation Amid Bihar Storm
Poll Body Reviews Countrywide Revision
New Delhi: In a move that underscores the Election Commission of India’s determination to expand a contentious voter verification process beyond Bihar, the poll body convened a high-level meeting today to evaluate readiness for a nationwide Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, even as legal and political challenges to the exercise persist in the eastern state.
The conference, held at the India International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Management here, marked the third such gathering of chief electoral officers from all states and union territories this year. Inaugurated by Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar alongside Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi, the event focused on sharing insights and strategies to implement the revision uniformly across the country. This comes at a time when the Bihar-specific rollout of the process has drawn sharp criticism from opposition parties, who allege it risks disenfranchising millions of voters from marginalised communities through stringent documentation requirements.
Participants heard a detailed briefing from Bihar’s chief electoral officer on the approaches taken in that state, including hurdles encountered and effective methods employed during the ongoing door-to-door verification. This session aimed to equip other states with practical knowledge, given Bihar’s role as a pilot for the initiative launched in June. The exercise in Bihar, targeting over eight crore voters, requires updated photographs, identity proofs and, for those registered after 2003, additional details like parental birth information to confirm eligibility. Critics, including leaders from the Congress and Rashtriya Janata Dal, have likened it to a de facto citizenship check, pointing to preliminary estimates that could see up to 6.5 million names struck off the rolls.
During the meeting, chief electoral officers from various regions outlined the current voter counts in their jurisdictions, the timing of their most recent intensive revisions, and the state of their electoral databases. Discussions also covered the progress in digitising and publishing these rolls online following prior updates, as well as efforts to cross-reference existing voters against older lists. Such mapping is intended to identify duplicates, deceased individuals or ineligible entries, a core objective of the revision process that the commission defends as essential for maintaining electoral integrity under the Representation of the People Act, 1950.
A key agenda item involved reviewing the reconfiguration of polling stations to cap the number of electors per booth at 1,200, a measure designed to streamline voting and reduce overcrowding on election day. Officers shared proposals for acceptable documents that could verify voter eligibility, with an emphasis on simplifying submission procedures to avoid excluding qualified citizens. This aspect echoes ongoing Supreme Court proceedings, where petitioners have urged the inclusion of widely held identifiers like Aadhaar cards and ration books, which the commission has partially accommodated by broadening its list to 11 options.
The Commission further examined the deployment and preparation of district electoral officers, electoral registration officers, assistant roles, booth-level officers and agents, ensuring they are adequately trained for the task ahead. These steps reflect the poll body’s push for a standardised framework, amid concerns raised in Bihar about the feasibility of the timeline—initially set amid monsoon disruptions—and the potential for procedural lapses.
The decision to assess nationwide preparedness signals the Commission’s intent to replicate the Bihar model elsewhere, potentially addressing long-standing gaps in voter lists last comprehensively overhauled in many states over two decades ago. However, this expansion occurs against a backdrop of unresolved disputes: the Supreme Court is scrutinising 28 petitions challenging the Bihar exercise’s constitutionality, with hearings ongoing and directives issued for greater transparency, including public disclosure of deleted voters. Opposition figures have accused the process of political bias, claiming it disproportionately affects migrants, the economically disadvantaged and minority groups, while the commission insists it safeguards against fraud without impacting citizenship status.
As states like Odisha begin to report similar preparatory moves, the conference highlights a broader effort to fortify India’s electoral system. Yet, with right-to-information queries on the rationale behind the initiative going unanswered and public protests continuing, the path to a countrywide revision remains fraught with debate over balancing accuracy and accessibility in one of the world’s largest democracies.
– global bihari bureau
