NEW DELHI, 24 JULY

Facing flak over voter roll revision in Bihar, Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar on Thursday asked if the poll body can come under influence and allow the dead, those who have migrated permanently or have registered themselves as electors at multiple places be included in the voters' list.

His remarks came amid stepped-up attacks by the opposition parties, which have been targeting the poll authority over the special intensive revision of Bihar's electoral roll.

The Opposition has claimed that the move will disenfranchise crores of eligible citizens.

"Isn't a pure voter list being prepared by the Election Commission through a transparent process, the foundation for fair elections and a strong democracy?" he said, according to the EC.

Kumar said allowing ineligible people to vote, first in Bihar and later in the entire country, is against the Constitution.

"On these questions, someday or the other, all of us and all the citizens of India will have to think deeply, going beyond political ideologies," he underlined.

During house-to-house visits in the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral roll in Bihar, poll officials have so far found that more than 52 lakh voters were not present at their addresses, and another 18 lakh have died.

The ECI has pointed out that as per SIR instructions, any elector or any recognised political party will get one month time from 1 August to 1 September to get names of any eligible voter included, if left out by Booth Level Officers (BLO) appointed by the EC and Booth Level Agents (BLA) appointed by parties or get names of any voter excluded if wrongly included by BLOs/ BLAs.