New Delhi

Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar assured that the officials of the Election Commission of India are working towards making Special Intensive Revision in Bihar a "huge success".

Gyanesh Kumar mentioned that the doors of the Election Commission are always open to everyone and the poll body is working together with everyone in a "transparent" manner.

This comes amid heavy criticism of the ECI by the opposition parties over the recent Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in the poll-bound state of Bihar.

"The truth is that step by step all the stakeholders are committed, trying and working hard to make the SIR of Bihar a complete success. When more than seven crore voters of Bihar are standing with the Election Commission, then neither can any question mark be raised on the credibility of the Election Commission nor on the credibility of the voters," CEC Gyanesh Kumar said in a media briefing in the national capital.

Gyanesh Kumar mentioned that the doors of the Election Commission are always open to everyone and the poll body is working together with everyone in a "transparent" manner.

"The doors of the Election Commission are always open for everyone equally. At the ground level, all the voters, all the political parties and all the booth-level officers are working together in a transparent manner, verifying, signing and also giving video testimonials. It is a matter of serious concern that these verified documents, testimonials of the district presidents of political parties and the BLOs nominated by them are either not reaching their own state level or national level leaders or an attempt is being made to spread confusion by ignoring the ground reality," Gyanesh Kumar said.

He informed that 1.6 lakh Booth Level Agents (BLA) have prepared the draft voter list in Bihar and till now, the voters have submitted a total of 28,370 claims and objections.

"SIR has been started in Bihar. 1.6 lakh Booth Level Agents (BLA) have prepared a draft list...As this draft list was being prepared in every booth, the Booth Level Agents of all political parties verified it with their signatures...Voters have submitted a total of 28,370 claims and objections...", CEC said.

Earlier on August 16, the Election Commission of India (ECI) had flagged that the time to raise issues about errors in the electoral rolls, even those in the past, was during the "Claims and Objections" period.

According to the EC, the precise objective behind sharing the electoral roll with all political parties and candidates was so that any issue regarding the same can be raised on time. The constitutional body raised the issue of political parties and their Booth Level Agents not examining the electoral rolls at the appropriate time.

It said that the digital and physical copies are shared with recognised political parties after the publication of the final electoral roll on the EC's website.

"Recently, some Political Parties and individuals are raising issues about errors in the Electoral Rolls, including those prepared in the past. The appropriate time to raise any issue with the Electoral Rolls would have been during the Claims and Objections period of that phase, which is precisely the objective behind sharing the Electoral Rolls with all Political Parties and the Candidates," EC said in an official release.

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"Had these issues been raised at the right time through the right channels, it would have enabled the concerned SDM EROs to correct the mistakes, if genuine, before those election," the release read.