SIR akin to Bihar across states to witness removal of dead voters from voter list
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New Delhi (PTI): The Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls across all states in the near future will witness a trend akin to Bihar where lakhs of deceased persons were removed from the voter list after several years.
The Election Commission believes that once the system of linking data of registrar of births and deaths with poll machinery takes firm roots, the issue of deceased persons being part of electoral rolls will eventually be settled.
Before the SIR commenced in Bihar, the state had 7.89 crore electors. After the exercise started, the draft roll published on August 1 had 7.24 crore electors, as nearly 65 lakh names were removed, including 22 lakh deceased persons.
Addressing the media here in August, Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar had explained that nearly 22 lakh electors identified as deceased in Bihar did not die recently but were perhaps not recorded in the past.
Responding to a question, Kumar said during the previous normal revision of electoral rolls, enumeration forms were not handed out to every household.
Till people inform about deaths in their families, booth level officers (BLOs) have no means to know about such cases, he said.
During the intensive revision, when the exercise is more stringent, the poll machinery is more vigilant about the deletion of people who have either died or have shifted.
In a bid to update the voter list at a faster pace and make it free of errors, the poll authority will now obtain death registration data electronically from the Registrar General of India (RGI).
This will ensure that the electoral registration officers (EROs) receive timely information about registered deaths and allow the BLOs to reverify the information through field visits, without waiting for a formal request by the kin of the deceased.
"People have no incentive to inform the poll authorities of deaths in their families. But once the data linkage takes root, the presence of deceased persons in the voter list will eventually end," a functionary said.
The functionary said once data linkage with the RGI and municipal and rural bodies is firmly established, the voter list will be more error-free.
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Former minister C M Ibrahim announces to launch new regional party for Karnataka
Kalaburagi: Two years after being expelled from the Janata Dal (Secular), former minister C.M. Ibrahim has announced that he will launch a new regional political party in Karnataka on January 24, reported Deccan Herald.
Speaking at a meeting organised by the Nava Karnataka Nirmana Andolana in Kalaburagi on Sunday, Ibrahim confirmed the birth of the new party.
The 77-year-old politician stated he would soon be meeting with other like-minded individuals to choose a symbol for the party.
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Ibrahim emphasised that the organisation would be guided by the principles of 12th-century social reformer Basavanna and the architect of the Indian Constitution, Dr. B. R. Ambedkar.
A veteran politician, Ibrahim served as Union Civil Aviation Minister during the tenure of H.D. Deve Gowda as Prime Minister and later headed the Karnataka unit of the Janata Dal (Secular). He was expelled from the JD(S) in 2023 on charges of anti-party activities.
His exit from the party followed sharp differences over the JD(S) decision to ally with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). As the then state president of the JD(S), Ibrahim had publicly criticised the alliance, claiming it was finalised without his knowledge. He had also reportedly convened meetings of his supporters and expressed support for the INDIA bloc.
