Should You Worry? ECI Holds Third CEOs Conference This Year For Nationwide SIR

The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Wednesday held a conference of Chief Electoral Officers (CEOs) of all States and Union Territories to assess the preparedness for the nationwide Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral rolls.

This was the third Conference of CEOs this year, which was inaugurated by Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar at the India International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Management (IIIDEM) in New Delhi.  

After the conference, the poll body released a press statement. It stated that a presentation on the strategies, constraints and best practices adopted was made by the CEO of Bihar so that the CEOs of the rest of the country learn from their experiences.

It further said that the CEOs gave detailed presentations on the number of Electors, the qualifying date of the last SIR and the Electoral Roll in their respective State/UT as per the last completed SIR.

To ensure that there is a uniform implementation of the Commission’s initiative to ensure that no polling station has over 1,200 electors, the status of rationalisation of polling stations was also reviewed, it stated. 

Special Intensive Revision In Bihar

The Election Commission of India has held a special intensive revision in Bihar that drew sharp criticism from the Opposition parties.  

Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, accused the poll body of ‘vote theft’ through the special intensive revision of electoral rolls and embarked on a 16-day ‘Voter Adhikar Yatra’ in Bihar.

However, the poll body has rejected the allegations, saying that during the Lok Sabha elections, over one crore employees, more than 10 lakh booth-level agents, and over 20 lakh polling agents of candidates work for the electoral process. In such a transparent process, it would even be possible for any voter to steal votes.

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