Patna, Aug 31 Hours after the Congress claimed that the party had submitted "89 lakh complaints" to the Election Commission of India (ECI) regarding alleged irregularities in Bihar's Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, the state's Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Vinod Singh Gunjiyal issued a sharp rebuttal on Sunday, saying that the figure was "unverified" and any such complaints must be filed in the prescribed format.
In an official statement posted on X, the CEO clarified that under election laws, no voter's name can be struck off arbitrarily.
"The Presidents of the District Congress Committees of the Indian National Congress have, in the last 1–2 days, submitted letters to the District Election Officers in Bihar, requesting the deletion of the names of around 89 lakh (8.9 million) people from the electoral rolls," it said.
It also added that as per the rules and directions of the Election Commission, any deletion of names can only be done through "Rule 13 of the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960, under which only Form 7 can be submitted" and secondly, "Booth Level Agents appointed by political parties, who can file objections in the prescribed format. Such objections, under Section 31 of the Representation of the People Act, 1950, must be submitted along with a declaration".
The statement also cited the Supreme Court's interim order of August 22, which made it clear that any objections about wrong entries in the electoral rolls must be filed in the prescribed format before the Electoral Registration Officer concerned.
"Objections not filed in the specified manner will not be acted upon," the CEO stressed.
Taking direct aim at the Congress claim, CEO Gunjiyal underlined that the letters recently submitted by District Congress Committee Presidents did not qualify as "specified objections" under the law.
Importantly, the CEO noted that the figure of "89 lakh voters" was unverified and created "unnecessary alarm".
The statement assured that before any decision on deletions, the Congress district-level submissions would be examined under Rule 20(3)(b) of the 1960 Rules, and only after sworn affidavits and due scrutiny would any names be considered for removal.
The rebuttal comes amid an escalating political row over Bihar’s draft electoral rolls, with opposition parties alleging large-scale manipulations ahead of polls. The ECI has maintained that the ongoing SIR process is statutory and subject to claims and objections till final publication.
Addressing a press conference in Bihar earlier, Congress leader Pawan Khera said: "The EC keeps getting news planted through its sources that no complaints are coming from any political party. The truth is that the Congress submitted 89 lakh complaints pertaining to the irregularities in the SIR to the EC.”
He also accused the poll panel of not registering their complaints via Booth Level Agents (BLAs).
"When our BLAs went to file complaints, their complaints were turned down by the EC. The poll body categorically told our BLAs that complaints could be accepted by individuals only, not by political parties,” the Congress leader said.
“It seems that CEC Gyanesh Kumar might have received an order not to register complaints via political parties,” he said.
"We also want elections to be conducted smoothly. We want no wrong person remains on the voter list and no rightful person’s name is removed. This is everyone’s responsibility -- yours, ours, and most importantly, the Election Commission’s. We hope that the Election Commission verifies all the data we have provided and conducts a door-to-door recheck," he added.
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