Ranchi, July 10 (IANS) The Congress’s Jharkhand unit has urged the Election Commission to extend the deadline for submission of enumeration forms under the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls by 15 days, citing slow progress in large urban Assembly constituencies.

A party delegation led by state Congress General Secretary Suryakant Shukla, state General Secretary and Media Department Coordinator Lal Kishore Nath Shahdeo, and Social Media Department Vice President Sanjay Kumar on Friday went to the Chief Electoral Office here and submitted the memorandum to the Election Commission.

In the absence of Chief Electoral Officer K. Ravi Kumar, the memorandum was handed over to Additional Chief Electoral Officer Subodh Kumar.

In the memorandum, the Congress warned that a large number of eligible voters could be left out of the electoral rolls if the current deadline remains unchanged.

According to the party, the memorandum was submitted on the instructions of Jharkhand Congress in-charge K. Raju and state President Keshav Mahto Kamlesh.

The Congress leaders said that under the Special Intensive Revision drive, which is being conducted from June 30 to July 29, the distribution of enumeration forms to voters and their digitisation are progressing at a slower pace than expected.

They claimed that digitisation has so far covered only 4.14 per cent of voters in Ranchi Assembly constituency, 8.48 per cent in Hatia, 4.78 per cent in Dhanbad, 5.96 per cent in Jharia, and 11.56 per cent in Bokaro.

The party expressed concern over the sluggish pace of form distribution and digitisation, particularly in densely populated Assembly segments.

It argued that if the process concludes within the existing timeframe, many eligible voters may not be able to submit their forms and could consequently be excluded from the electoral rolls.

The Congress has requested the Election Commission to extend the final date for the enumeration phase from July 29 to August 13.

According to the party, an additional 15 days would help ensure the registration of all remaining eligible voters and strengthen efforts to prepare a comprehensive and fair electoral roll.

–IANS

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