State Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Navdeep Rinwa has openly answered all the questions arising in the minds of voters regarding the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process in Uttar Pradesh in an exclusive conversation with ABP News. He clearly said that the purpose of SIR is not to delete anyone’s name, but to make the voter list correct, updated and transparent, so that the name of every eligible citizen can be correctly recorded in the voter list.

The Chief Electoral Officer said that the first phase process of SIR has been completed. We have released our draft voter list on 6th January and any voter can check their name in the voter list very easily. For this, the official website of the Election Commission of India or the nearest Booth Level Officer (BLO) can be contacted. The final voter list at both village and city levels will be published on March 6.

No need to panic, the error can be corrected – Navdeep Rinwa

He also clarified that if there is a mistake in a voter’s name, age or other details, there is no need to panic. Such voters can get their errors corrected by filling the prescribed form between January 6 and February 6. Amendment application can also be made through BLO, Tehsil office or online.

Names at two places in voter list are illegal – Navdeep Rinwa

CEO Navdeep Rinwa also answered that question, in which it is being said that many voters have registered their names in the voter list of the village during SIR, but they live in cities for work. On this he said that this is a social and economic reality. Whether the voting percentage is more or less depends on the awareness of the voter and not just on the SIR process. The Election Commission is continuously running voter awareness campaigns so that people become aware and do not keep names in two places in the voter list, instead of keeping them in one place, because this is both wrong and illegal. That is why people became aware and those whose names were registered at two places, got their names deleted at one place and registered them at one place only. In this, the voters belonging to the village mostly registered their names in the village list only.

He also said that if a voter has filled the SIR form, but still his name is not visible in the voter list, then he should again lodge a complaint with the concerned BLO or election office. All complaints will be resolved in a time bound manner. After SIR, eligible voters will also get a new Voter ID Card. After amendment or addition of new names, the card will be sent through post or online download facility will also be available.

ECI does not work under the pressure of any political party- Navdeep Rinwa

Responding to the allegations made by Samajwadi Party and its president Akhilesh Yadav, Navdeep Rinwa said that “If there has been any human or technical mistake from our side, then we are being given full opportunity to rectify it.” He also responded to SP’s ‘wolf’ statement and said that the Election Commission is an impartial institution and does not work under the pressure of any political party.

He said, we can also make mistakes, BLOs can also make mistakes. You have time for that, you can get that mistake corrected. On SP’s statement of increasing BLO by two hundred names, he said, we have asked every political party to get maximum names of voters added through SIR. If a team is working on it then it is correct. He said that more than two crore eighty lakh names have been removed from the voter list in Uttar Pradesh. It is possible that the names of some people may have been deleted or left out due to the mistake of the BLO, so there is one month’s time to correct them.

The allegations that a large number of names have been deleted are false. The names of those people who are no longer residing at the address, or have shifted, or have died, have been struck off. Or there are those people whose names were in the list at two places and they have got their names removed from one place. Although our effort was to ensure that no genuine and eligible voter is left out, but if anyone is left out then he should submit his application. The BLO will check and if he is a correct voter then his name will be added to the final list.

It is noteworthy that in a big state like Uttar Pradesh, keeping the voter list updated is a big and continuous process. SIR is an important step in this direction, so that the foundation of democracy remains strong and every citizen’s vote remains safe.

Bihar Politics: Before the upcoming Bihar assembly elections, the Congress has formally decided to contest elections under the ‘India’ alliance. The decision was taken in a high level meeting held in New Delhi on Tuesday (March 25) under the chairmanship of party president Mallikarjun Kharge. Senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, prominent leader of Bihar Congress and other national officials were present in the meeting. The main objective of this meeting was to clarify the status of the alliance in Bihar and decide the strategy of the upcoming election.

After the meeting, Bihar Congress President Rajesh Kumar addressed the media and confirmed the party’s decision. He said, ‘The Congress will contest elections completely with the India alliance in Bihar. Our main goal is to defeat the BJP -led alliance. The BJP is our biggest political rival in Bihar and we will put full strength to defeat it. He also clarified that the grand alliance in Bihar is completely united and there is no confusion or differences like other states. The Congress believes that to exclude BJP in Bihar, all opposition parties will have to form a strong strategy together.

Discussion on seat sharing and Chief Minister’s post continues to continue

When he was questioned about the seat sharing, Rajesh Kumar said that it is too early to discuss it. He said, ‘When the election comes close, the leaders of the coalition will jointly formulate a concrete strategy and a final decision will be taken on the seat sharing.’

At the same time, when the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) questioned Tejashwi Yadav as the Chief Ministerial candidate for the Grand Alliance was questioned, the Congress leaders indicated that the final decision will be taken only after discussion among all the coalition partners. Congress in -charge Krishna Allavaru said that the decision of the Chief Minister candidate will be taken after the meeting of all the parties of ‘India’ alliance ‘.

Decision will be made soon regarding new colleagues

It was also discussed in the meeting whether Prashant Kishore’s Jan Suraj Party will be included in the India alliance. On this, Congress leaders did not give any direct reply and said that ‘a decision will be taken only after proper discussion’. The role of Pappu Yadav was also questioned, on which the Congress leaders said that the India alliance stands with all those who are against the BJP and are struggling to save democracy. Many prominent leaders of Bihar Congress were present in this meeting, including former state president Akhilesh Singh, former ministers Ramjatan Sinha and Shakeel Ahmed.