NEW DELHI, 9 AUG

The Election Commission on Saturday reiterated that it has not received a single claim or objection from any political party regarding the draft electoral rolls in Bihar.

"So far, after over a week since the beginning of the Claims & Objections period, not even a single claim or objection has been submitted by any political party," EC said. The window to submit claims and objections to rectify any errors on the draft electoral rolls opened on 1 August.

However, the EC has received 7,252 claims and objections directly from the electors with respect to the draft roll till today, said the ECI in a daily bulletin on the special intensive revision (SIR) of the electoral roll in Bihar.

Forms received from new electors on attaining 18 years of age or above are 43,000. As per the rules, the claims & objections are to be disposed of by the concerned Electoral Registration Officer/Assistant Electoral Registration Officer (ERO/AERO) after the expiry of 7 days.

As per SIR orders, no name can be deleted from the draft list published on 1 August, without passing a speaking order by the ERO/AERO after conducting an enquiry and after giving a fair and reasonable opportunity.

The Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Bihar has sparked a political row, with the opposition INDIA bloc alleging that the revision process could lead to the deletion of a large number of voters.

They have been protesting in the Parliament, demanding a discussion over the Bihar SIR, since the start of this year's monsoon session.

Earlier, Congress leader and Leader of Opposition (LoP) Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Thursday levelled serious allegations of "vote theft" against the EC. He alleged that the elections are "choreographed".

Presenting Congress' research on voting in the Mahadevapura Assembly in Karnataka, Gandhi alleged "vote chori" (vote theft) of 1,00,250 votes.

Addressing a press conference, Rahul Gandhi stated that the Congress won other seats, while the BJP swept Mahadevapura.