New Delhi, Sep 26 (PTI) JD(U) national working president Sanjay Kumar Jha on Saturday accused the Opposition of spreading “misconceptions” about the Election Commission’s Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, saying that the experience of Bihar showed there was no mass deletion of voters.
Jha’s remarks came after the Election Commission, at a meeting attended by Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi on Saturday, asserted that all SIR orders had received the unanimous consent of all three commissioners.
In a post on X, Jha said, “The decisions taken in today’s meeting of the Election Commission of India in New Delhi and the unanimous clarification issued by Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and Election Commissioners S S Sandhu and Vivek Joshi have proved the misconceptions being spread about constitutional institutions to be baseless.”
“It has once again become clear that decisions like Special Intensive Revision are taken collectively and by strictly following institutional procedures,” he said.
Jha accused the Opposition of creating the impression that there was no consensus within the Commission on SIR and that the Cabinet Secretary had to intervene.
“The official records completely reject such claims,” he said, adding that the EC had clarified that the meeting with the Cabinet Secretary was “neither related to any policy matter nor to the IT department; rather, its sole purpose was to discuss an officer who had come on deputation”.
On Bihar, Jha said it was the first state where the SIR process was completed and that Opposition leaders had undertaken a yatra against the exercise before the Assembly election.
“Journalists from India and abroad covered the Bihar election from ground zero, but nowhere was there any complaint of names being deleted on a mass scale,” he said.
“The entire election was conducted peacefully, and the NDA received a massive mandate,” Jha said.
The Election Commission on Saturday announced several measures to facilitate voters facing notices or those left out of the electoral rolls, including home visits by booth-level officers to collect documents; special camps for the elderly, homeless and poor; and online hearings except in exceptional cases.
Jha said these measures showed the Commission’s commitment to both fairness and public convenience. “Despite this, spreading misinformation against a major constitutional institution like the Election Commission is unfortunate. The Opposition should apologise to the country for it,” he said.
He also defended the SIR exercise, saying, “Periodic revision of the electoral roll is necessary to prevent bogus voting and maintain the purity of democracy.”
Jha said that in the 20 states and Union territories where SIR had been completed, “sufficient time and opportunity were given for making corrections”.
“Attempts to spread misleading propaganda against constitutional institutions after electoral defeat and to weaken the world’s confidence in Indian democracy and electoral processes are unfortunate,” he said.
“Maintaining public confidence in the country’s democratic processes is the collective responsibility of all political parties,” Jha said.
The Election Commission on Saturday asserted that all SIR orders received unanimous consent from all three Commissioners and that the updates to Form 6 for voter enrolment were upheld by the Supreme Court, as it sought to address issues at the centre of a raging row over decision-making in the poll panel and concerns of voters who have been issued notices or are left out from the rolls.
After its first meeting following news reports claiming differences between the Chief Election Commissioner and the two Election Commissioners, the poll panel said the letters sent by Sandhu and Joshi to the Cabinet Secretary pertained to an officer on deputation, rather than policy or IT division matters. PTI AO RUK
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