"What happened in one year that EC needs to revise voters list?" Prashant Kishor

Sitamarhi (Bihar) [India], July 10 (ANI): Jan Suraaj chief Prashant Kishor questioned the Election Commission's decision to revise the voter list in Bihar ahead of the assembly election when it was prepared just a year ago, during the 2024 Lok Sabha election.
Speaking with ANI, Prashant Kishor said, "There are many people opposing the voter list. Just a year ago, the Lok Sabha elections were held. The Election Commission itself prepared the voter list. The Prime Minister's election took place. What has happened in one year that the entire list needs revision?"
Demanding that the list prepared in the Lok Sabha election to be used during the assembly election, Kishor also questioned whether by revising the list NDA alliance is accepting that the "infiltrators" have been living in Bihar under their tenure.
"Our demand is simply that the same list used for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections should be used here as well. Amendments can be made to it... For the past year, the NDA government has been in power in Bihar, so are they admitting that infiltrators have been living in Bihar during their tenure?"
Speaking about EC citing Article 386 to justify electoral rolls revision, Prashant Kishor said that the article gives the right to vote to every Indian citizen above 18 years of age and ECI "cannot deprive him by trapping him in this useless document."
"Article 326 gives the right to vote, that every eligible Indian citizen above the age of eighteen has the fundamental right to vote...We are also saying that every citizen of Bihar above the age of eighteen should have the right to vote in the upcoming elections. You cannot deprive him by trapping him in this useless document," Kishor said.
"The Election Commission has no right to check citizenship...This is the judgment of the Supreme Court. This is beyond the jurisdiction of the Election Commission," he added.
Meanwhile, Election Commission of India (ECI) reaffirmed their commitment to the electors of India, as Bihar's Special Intensive Revision (SIR) saw active participation and made it possible to collect 57.48 per cent of the total Enumeration Forms required for verifying electors of the state ahead of the Assembly elections.
"The Election Commission of India was, is and will always be with the electors of India," Chief Election Commissioner of India, Gyanesh Kumar, said in an official statement.
The ECI also reaffirmed the need to keep the electoral rolls untainted, adding, "Pure electoral rolls are inevitable for strengthening democracy."
The poll panel highlighted that around 4.5 crore forms have been collected from a total of around 7.9 crore voters in the state. According to an official statement, 10.52 per cent of the forms, over 83,000, have been collected in the last 24 hours (July 8-9).
The SIR is expected to be completed by July 25, according to the EC. (ANI)