Hours after Congress claimed it had submitted nearly 89 lakh complaints regarding Bihar’s voter lists, the state’s Chief Election Officer clarified that the party failed to follow the proper legal procedure required for filing such objections with the commission.
Hours after the Congress party announced that it had submitted nearly 89 lakh complaints to the election commission concerning voter lists in Bihar, the state’s Chief Election Officer (CEO) responded by stating that the party did not follow the proper procedure for submitting objections.
In an official statement released on X, the CEO noted,
“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.”
The statement further clarified that, according to the rules set by the Election Commission, any names to be deleted must be processed through “Rule 13 of the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960, under which only Form 7 can be submitted.”
It added that booth-level agents appointed by political parties are permitted to file objections using the prescribed format. Such objections, as per Section 31 of the Representation of the People Act, 1950, must be accompanied by a declaration.
The CEO emphasized that the data cited in the Congress complaint regarding “89 lakh voters” was unverified. The official statement indicated that the Electoral Registration Officer (ERO) would make an appropriate decision regarding the process for deleting the names of approximately 89 lakh voters.
The statement also mentioned that names would only be considered for removal after sworn affidavits and proper scrutiny.
Furthermore, it referenced a Supreme Court interim order dated August 22, which mandated that any objections to incorrect entries in the electoral rolls must be submitted in the prescribed format to the relevant ERO.
Earlier, during a press conference in Patna, Congress leader Pawan Khera claimed that the election commission in Bihar had previously rejected the complaints filed and suggested, through unnamed sources, that no political party had lodged any objections.
Khera stated,
“The election commission, through sources, has planted that no political party is objecting; one must have heard this. We also got to know that we did not do anything. Congress has submitted 89 lakh complaints to the Election Commission. We kept on doing our work silently and smiled at the sources. We then understood why zero complaints,”
He added,
“Then we got to know that when complaints are not taken from our BLAs when they go to submit them. Instead, they are saying they will take from individuals.”
In an interview with media following the conference, Khera expressed confidence in Congress winning the upcoming assembly elections, asserting that the public is now aware of their mandate being compromised.
He said,
“We will win these (Bihar) elections. People’s eyes have opened that this is a stolen mandate. They will have to give up (power),”
The Election Commission received a total of 118 claims and objections from the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) Liberation for the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) 2025 of the electoral rolls in Bihar. Of these, the CPI (ML) Liberation submitted 103 requests for name exclusions and 15 for inclusions. The deadline for filing claims and objections is September 1.
Click Here to Read Previous Reports on Bihar SIR Row
FOLLOW US ON YOUTUBE FOR MORE LEGAL UPDATES
