After NDA sweeps Bihar polls, PM urges all parties to participate in SIR to 'clean up' rolls
New Delhi (PTI): Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday urged all political parties to participate in the ongoing SIR of electoral rolls by appointing their workers in all polling stations, as he lauded the people of Bihar for "supporting" the exercise to "clean up" the voters' list.
Addressing BJP workers at the party headquarters here after NDA's stunning victory in Bihar elections, Modi said voters of Bihar have given a "massive support" to the special intensive revision (SIR).
He said it was a duty of all political parties to activate their workers in all polling booths and "contribute in purification of voters' list," he said.
In phase two of SIR in nine states and three Union territories, 46.5 crore enumeration forms have so far been distributed.
The states and UTs are: Chhattisgarh, Goa, Gujarat, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Puducherry, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, and Lakshadweep.
Among these, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, Kerala, and West Bengal will go to polls in 2026.
In Assam, where elections are also due in 2026, the revision of electoral rolls will be announced separately.
Phase two of the SIR exercise began on November 4 with the enumeration stage and will continue till December 4.
The EC will release the draft electoral rolls on December 9, and the final rolls will be published on February 7.
The ruling Trinamool Congress in West Bengal and the DMK in Tamil Nadu have opposed the SIR exercise, claiming it will disenfranchise eligible citizens for want of documents.
After the SIR in Bihar, the EC has included the Aadhaar card in the list of indicative documents people will have to submit in the 12 states and UTs.
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Rupee falls 9 paise to all-time low of 90.58 against US dollar in early trade
Mumbai (PTI): Rupee depreciated 9 paise to an all-time low of 90.58 against US dollar in early trade on Monday, weighed down by uncertainty over an India-US trade deal and persistent foreign fund outflows.
Forex traders said rupee is trading with a negative bias as investors are in wait and watch mode and awaiting cues from the India-US trade deal front.
At the interbank foreign exchange market, the rupee opened at 90.53 against the US dollar, then fell further to an all-time intraday low of 90.58 against the greenback, registering a fall of 9 paise over its previous close.
On Friday, the rupee had slipped 17 paise to close at an all-time low of 90.49 against the American currency.
Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading 0.05 per cent lower at 98.35.
Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, was trading higher by 0.52 per cent at USD 61.44 per barrel in futures trade.
On the domestic equity market front, the 30-share benchmark index Sensex was trading 298.86 points lower at 84,968.80, while the Nifty was down 121.40 points at 25,925.55.
Foreign Institutional Investors sold equities worth Rs 1,114.22 crore on Friday, according to exchange data.
"FPIs continue to be in selling mode in equity and debt while RBI has been selling dollars to fund their long positions," said Anil Kumar Bhansali, Head of Treasury and Executive Director Finrex Treasury Advisors LLP.
