New Delhi, July 6 (IANS) Amid the swirling allegations of systemic conspiracy to deprive a large section of people of voting rights in Bihar, the Chief Election Commissioner sought to set the records straight on Sunday, as he stated that the current voter ID cards remain a ‘source of concern’ for all parties across the political spectrum.

CEC Gyanesh Kumar shed light on the marathon meetings conducted with parties as well as political representatives in the past four months and informed that all shared a common opinion that electoral rolls are ‘not up to the mark’, thereby prompting the poll body to go for a major overhaul.

“During the past 4 months, all 4,123 EROs, all 775 DEOs and all 36 CEOs have held nearly 5,000 meetings with 28,000 political party representatives. ECI has also invited all Recognised political parties for interaction. No one was satisfied with the current status of electoral rolls for one reason or the other,” said Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.

The CEC’s disclosures on intensive revision of electoral rolls assume significance as it comes in the wake of vociferous protests by the Opposition parties, as the latter claimed that their charges are being ignored and neglected by the Election Commission.

On Saturday, the CEC said that the poll panel is regularly holding discussions and dialogue with the political parties to address their concerns.

Notably, the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) – a rigorous exercise by the ECI to roll out ‘fresh’ electoral rolls in Bihar has come under intense scrutiny and criticism from the Opposition parties.

According to EC’s guidelines on SIR, about 4.96 crore voters – comprising 60 per cent of the electorate, who were listed in electoral rolls before 2003, don’t have to be part of the exercise, which means that they won’t have to deposit any supporting documents to establish their date or place of birth.

However, the rest 40 per cent of the population, comprising about Rs 3 crore, will have to provide supporting documents as ‘evidence’ to establish their date or place of birth.

–IANS

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