SIR row: Bihar CM Samrat Choudhary says EC clarification should settle matter

Bihar Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary said on Sunday that the controversy over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls should be laid to rest, pointing to a joint statement by the Chief Election Commissioner and the two Election Commissioners confirming that the poll panel's decisions were taken by consensus.

Speaking to reporters, Choudhary said the Election Commission had also clarified that its letter to the Cabinet Secretary concerned a different matter, and that there should therefore be no lingering doubts in people's minds.

On the SIR exercise in Bihar, the Chief Minister said no one had questioned the deletion of seven lakh voters. He said the process had shown that 36 lakh voters had shifted, 22 lakh had died and seven lakh were registered in more than one place, leaving a final list of 7.42 crore voters. Objections raised by the Congress and other parties, he added, had been addressed.

His remarks came amid concerns raised by NDA allies Chirag Paswan and Upendra Kushwaha, who had sought clarification from the Election Commission on the SIR. Choudhary said the panel had clarified everything and that any party still aggrieved should present facts, noting that the courts remain available for review after the commission completes its process. He said allies had every right to raise concerns, but should back them with concrete facts so that discrepancies could be corrected.

Targeting the Opposition, Choudhary said Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and Bihar Leader of the Opposition Tejashwi Prasad Yadav rarely present facts and travel around Bihar "like tourists". He said specific discrepancies cited earlier by Rahul Gandhi had been addressed.

Choudhary also attacked the Congress over its record on the Election Commission, recalling that the party had sent former Election Commissioner M S Gill to the Rajya Sabha and appointed another former Election Commissioner, R K Trivedi, as Gujarat Governor. He referred to the setting aside of Indira Gandhi's election by a court, and said a party that produced three Prime Ministers from one family, along with Sonia Gandhi, should not lecture others. He added that Rahul Gandhi took the post of Leader of the Opposition only for the power and privilege it brings.

On the CPI(M)'s threat of protests in Bihar and INDIA bloc plans to meet over the SIR issue, the Chief Minister said political movements do occur and everyone has the right to protest, but they should bring facts. He also questioned how the Congress won successive elections from 1952 to 1967 and several later ones if the system were flawed, and said the party cannot digest a poor man's son becoming Prime Minister.