Congress MP from Wayanad Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Monday said the the government should agree to a discussion on the Election Commission’s Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Bihar, even as a report claimed that 18 dead people, including a man whose funeral Union minister Giriraj Singh had attended, remain on the draft voter list in Begusarai.
Priyanka’s remarks came after the Lok Sabha was adjourned till 2pm due to protests by opposition parties demanding a discussion on the voter roll revision in Bihar.
"It is a very big issue. If all this is being done to the voters' list why should we not raise it?" Priyanka told reporters in the Parliament House complex when asked about the Opposition continuing to raise the SIR issue.
"The government should agree to a discussion and move forward, why not," she added.
The opposition has been protesting in both Houses of Parliament against the SIR, alleging the EC's exercise was aimed at disenfranchising millions of poor voters in Bihar ahead of the Assembly elections.
They have been demanding a discussion on the issue in both Houses.
The Congress general secretary's demand for a debate came the same day a Dainik Bhaskar report said that in Bihar’s Begusarai, the voter list for the upcoming by-election in the Imamganj Assembly constituency includes the names of 18 deceased individuals, among them the nephew of a minister.
The issue was reportedly uncovered during a voter list verification process prompted by complaints about irregularities.
The District Election Office has acknowledged the error and stated that the names of the deceased will be removed from the voter list after proper verification, according to Dainik Bhaskar.
Prashant Kamal, a leader of the Congress, picked up the Begusarai report and wrote a post in Hindi on X, claiming his name had been deleted from the voter list while dead men were included.
“Union Minister Giriraj Singh attended the shraddh ceremony of a person whose name is also on the voter list,” Kamal wrote. If the honorable Minister Giriraj Da had come to my shraddh as well, my name would also be on the voter list! But being alive, I couldn’t invite him to my shraddh,” Kamal wrote.
“Friends, my name is also not on the voter list,” he added, with a picture of his EPIC (electoral photo identity card).
“When I asked, they said it wasn’t there before either. This is my voter card. I’ve voted several times too. First, is a voter card issued even if the name is not on the voter list? Second, can it be removed without any notice? And third, why didn’t my name appear this time despite filling out the form?”
He said he is a voter from the same Sahebpur Kamal Assembly constituency where an FIR was filed against independent journalist Ajit Anjum for reporting on alleged irregularities in the SIR process.
The Election Commission has denied all allegations of irregularities and has said Bihar Leader of Opposition Tejashwi Yadav lied about his name being deleted from the voter list and would face action for having two voter ID cards.
Tejashwi has also alleged that the Election Commission is not giving full details of deleted names that would help political parties track down genuine voters whose names have been deleted.
The Supreme Court, while hearing petitions against the SIR process, refused to put it on hold but assured that it would step in if mass deletion of genuine names could be proved.
