Supreme Court Scrutinizes Voter List Discrepancies in Bihar, Asks Why Political Parties Aren’t More Involved

The Supreme Court is examining the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) campaign in Bihar, focusing on issues of voter list accuracy. The Election Commission reported that 22 lakh voters have been marked as deceased, while 7 lakh entries are duplicates. The court questioned the reasons for duplicate entries. The Election Commission explained its duty to prevent duplicate EPICs and remove those who have EPICs from outside Bihar. The court has acknowledged the Election Commission’s adherence to its directives and the submission of an affidavit. The court has ordered political parties’ Block Level Agents (BLAs) to file objections and claims. The court noted the availability of 1.6 lakh BLAs from 12 political parties, who can file 16 lakh objections and claims in ten days. The court expressed its surprise at the lack of active participation from political parties’ BLAs. The court highlighted that every voter has the right to register and file objections, and the 12 political parties should provide assistance to the voters. The court requested the political parties to instruct their BLAs to offer assistance to voters in the process across various locations. The court raised questions about the reasons for the distance between people and leaders.