Opposition parties meet EC, raise concerns over Special Intensive Revision of voter list in Bihar

New Delhi [India], July 2 (ANI): INDIA bloc parties, including the Congress, Rashtriya Janata Dal, the Samajwadi Party, the Communist Party of India and others on Wednesday strongly objected to Election Commission's decision to carry out 'Special Intensive Revision' of electoral rolls in Bihar when elections are round the corner.
An 18-member delegation of these parties met the ECI officials at the Nirvachan Sadan here today and objected to the decision, saying it will be a serious violation of the level playing field.
Briefing reporters after meeting the ECI officials, Abhishek Manu Singhvi, accompanied by RJD's Manoj Jha, CPI (M-L)'s Dipankar Bhattacharya, Bihar PCC president Rajesh Kumar and other leaders, also objected to the Election Commission's latest orders restricting the number of leaders who can visit the commission for the meetings.
He said the delegation members were told that only two representatives from each party can be allowed including the president. He said, some senior leaders like Jairam Ramesh and Pawan Khera were made to wait outside.
Singhvi said that the delegation pointed out during its meeting that many elections had been held in Bihar since 2003 and questioned whether all those elections were wrong or illegal. They said, if the special intensive revision was to be done, why the announcement was made as late as June when the Bihar assembly elections were just two-three months away.
He pointed out, about 7.75 crore electors are there in Bihar and it would be humongous task to verify all of them within such a short span of time. He said, when the special revision was done in 2003, the next General Elections were due after one year, while the assembly elections were due after two years, while now there are just a few months left.
Singhvi said that for the first time, various documents were being sought which will be practically impossible for downtrodden and marginalised people to arrange within such a short span of time.
He pointed out the ECI made several announcements since January this year but never mentioned the 'SIR' which was done all of a sudden. He said it is a serious matter and a clear violation of the level-playing field, which is very important as far as elections are concerned. (ANI)