New Delhi, Aug 17 (NationPress) Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar stated on Sunday that the election commission remains steadfast in its dedication to impartiality, dismissing claims of "vote chori". He emphasized that the political maneuvers aimed at the ECI will not hinder its constitutional duties from being carried out transparently.

Characterizing the Bihar Special Intensive Review (SIR) process as entirely transparent, CEC Kumar remarked, "Misinformation is being circulated regarding this exercise, even though the draft voter lists have already been provided to political parties."

He noted that either the parties’ Booth Level Agents are not receiving the draft voter list for verification, or political agendas are being employed to target the ECI in an effort to tarnish its reputation.

"The ECI’s integrity cannot be compromised, as over seven crore voters and all stakeholders stand firmly behind the election commission," he mentioned, adding that spreading misinformation is tantamount to disrespecting the Constitution.

The ECI’s media briefing coincided with Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and Rashtriya Janata Dal leader Tejashwi Yadav launching a "Vote Adhikar Yatra" in Bihar to draw attention to alleged missing votes and manipulations in the voter list.

Updating the public, the CEC noted that in Bihar, since August 1, over one lakh new electors, who have reached voting age after the SIR exercise, have submitted forms for inclusion in the voter list.

Additionally, the election office has received 28,370 claims and objections from electors regarding the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Bihar.

The SIR enumeration phase concluded from June 24 to July 25, during which more than 7.24 crore electors out of a total of 7.89 crore submitted their enumeration forms.

Ultimately, around 65 lakh voters were found missing from the draft electoral rolls released on August 1, which included 22 lakh deceased electors (2.83 percent), 36 lakh (4.59 percent) who had relocated or could not be located, and seven lakh (0.89 percent) who were registered at multiple locations, according to ECI data.

Opposition parties have criticized the SIR exercise in Bihar, alleging irregularities that threaten to disenfranchise millions of voters—a claim the ECI has denied.

The election commission published its draft electoral rolls on August 1 and has allotted a month for individuals, parties, and their booth-level agents (BLAs) to file complaints regarding inclusion or exclusion from the draft electoral list.

The Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) has 47,506 BLAs, Congress has 17,549, and the Left has over 2,000, totaling more than 67,000.

The ECI has consistently encouraged political parties to participate in the revision process and report any instances of disenfranchisement.

"Please submit your claims and objections to correct any inaccuracies in the draft Electoral Roll of Bihar published on August 1. To date, no claims or objections have been submitted by any political party," the ECI had stated previously.

The ECI highlighted that from June 23 to July 25, Congress increased its BLAs to 17,549 (a 105 percent rise), RJD to 47,506 (a 1 percent rise), Janata Dal (United) to 36,550 (a 31 percent increase), and BJP to 53,338 (a 3 percent increase).