Bihar SIR exercise: Nepali, Bangladeshi nationals found with Indian documents
NEW DELHI, JUL 13: Booth Level Officers (BLOs) of the Election Commission of India (ECI) conducting the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Bihar have found a number of individuals from Nepal, Bangladesh and Myanmar possessing Indian documents like Aadhaar, domicile certificates and ration cards, sources said on Sunday.
According to officials in the ECI, the ground-level officials of the poll panel have so for established direct contact with nearly all voters in the state as part of the SIR exercise.
A source said, “A thorough verification will be carried out between August 1 and 30, and names found not eligible will be excluded from the final voter list set to be published on September 30.
“During house-to-house visits for SIR in Bihar, a large number of people from Nepal, Bangladesh, and Myanmar have been found by BLOs. These persons have been able to procure all documents including Aadhaar, domicile certificate, ration card etc,” he said.
At the time of the announcement for conducting the SIR in Bihar, the ECI had said that it was necessary due to a number of reasons, including inclusion of the names of foreign illegal immigrants in the current list.
It had also argued that several political parties have raised the issue of the inclusion of foreigners in the voter list.
During the Delhi assembly elections, held earlier this year, the BJP accused the then-ruling AAP of “patronising” illegal Rohingya and Bangladeshi migrants in the national capital, claiming their presence is affecting the electoral process. The AAP had accused the BJP of deleting names of “those living in unauthorised colonies”. The BJP had made similar remarks for West Bengal as well.
The elections in Bihar are expected to be held sometime before November this year, as the term of the state assembly in that month.
The Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) will prepare the draft electoral roll by including all voters whose enumeration forms have been received before July 25. The EROs, will refer cases of suspected foreign nationals to the competent authority under the Citizenship Act, 1955.
The SIR is progressing well and ahead of its targeted schedule, the ECI has claimed. “Have completed 100 per cent printing and near completion of distribution of EFs to all electors, who were found at their addresses,” it had said.
As per the official data released by the ECI last evening, it said, as of 6 pm on Saturday, “over 6.32 crore enumeration forms – accounting for 80.11 per cent of electors – had been collected. “This means four out of every five electors in Bihar have submitted the EF (enumeration forms). With this pace, the majority of EFs are likely to be collected much before July 25,” it said.
To appear in the draft roll, expected by August 1, electors have to submit their EFs, preferably, along with eligibility documents. In case any elector needs more time to submit the eligibility documents, the person can submit them separately till August 30, the last date of filing claims and objections.
-PTI
