India News | SIR in Bihar Will Raise Questions on Lok Sabha Poll Process: JD MP

New Delhi, Jul 23 (PTI) JD(U) MP Giridhari Yadav on Wednesday broke ranks with the ruling NDA to oppose the ongoing Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls in Bihar, and said it will raise questions on the verdict of the Lok Sabha polls held last year.

Yadav told PTI that the Election Commission must hold the SIR for at least six months to allow eligible voters adequate time to file requisite proof and remove those who may not have voting rights.

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He claimed that the ongoing drive has "wearied and harassed" people, especially the poor, as if they are in a "medical emergency".

"They are busy in paddy farming now. Now they have to search for all kind of documents and submit with officials. They are facing so much trouble. The EC must give at least six months for the SIR and should hold the exercise in summers," he said.

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Yadav asked if the electoral roll was correct for the Lok Sabha polls, then how it can be incorrect for the Assembly polls to be held in a few months.

"Have I been elected on the basis of the incorrect electoral roll? It will then raise questions on the entire poll process," the Lok Sabha MP from Banka said.

He said lakhs of migrants living outside Bihar may be denied their voting rights due to the "hasty" process.

Asked about his party's support for the SIR, he said he is expressing an independent view as an MP of the Lok Sabha.

Citing his own example, he claimed that it took him 10-11 days to collect documents and said his son, who lives in the US, has faced more problems. "I do not know if my son will now be a voter in Bihar," he said.

The JD(U), a BJP ally, has defended the ongoing SIR, asserting that it is aimed at identifying eligible voters so that ineligible voters, including suspected infiltrators, do not get to vote.

Earlier in the Lok Sabha, Yadav claimed that Bihar has got no new trains despite playing a big role in the formation of the BJP-led NDA government at the Centre.

Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, however, asserted that the state has received five new "Amrit Bharat" trains. PTI KR

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)