Received 2.07 lakh applications for removal of names from electoral rolls: Election Commission

The SIR has thrown up unusual churn, with even Booth Level Agents of RJD and CPI(ML)L filing applications for voter inclusion and deletion, while 15.32 lakh fresh 18-year-olds seek to be added to the rolls.

New Delhi: With a day left for filing claims and objections in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in Bihar, the Election Commission (EC) on Sunday said it has received 2.07 lakh applications for removal of names from the electoral rolls.

It said 33,236 individuals out of around 65 lakh names deleted from the rolls have also applied for inclusion. The final voters list will be published on September 30.

According to the EC, 128 applications have been filed by Booth Level Agents (BLAs) of CPI(ML)L and RJD for inclusion or exclusion of voters. BLAs of CPI(ML)L submitted 15 applications for inclusion and 103 for deletion of names, while the RJD filed 10 applications for inclusion.

The EC said 15.32 lakh new voters who have turned 18 or above have also applied for inclusion.

The draft roll published on August 1 had 7.24 crore voters, compared to 7.89 crore in the previous rolls. Of the 65 lakh names deleted, 22 lakh were reported dead and 36 lakh had permanently shifted or were not traceable, the EC had said.

Recently, the EC said that 99.11% of the 7.24 crore people in the draft list had submitted documents under SIR. However, it is not clear how many have provided the 11 documents prescribed for the exercise.