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New Delhi: Days after the Election Commission of India published the final electoral roll in Bihar following the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) – which showed that the electorate in the state had shrunk by about 6%, – Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar in a press conference on Sunday (October 5) did not provide any details about the number of foreign “illegal immigrants” found in the rolls or the reasons for deletion of 47 lakh voters.

Instead, Kumar said that the data is available with district magistrates, who had made it available to political parties at the district level, and claims and objections can be raised till ten days before the filing of nomination for the polls.

Kumar also did not provide any clear answers about why there were dozens of voters found residing in a single house, or whether Aadhaar cards will be accepted as a supportive document during the nationwide SIR.

Addressing a press conference in Patna on the preparation of the poll body for conducting the assembly elections in Bihar, Kumar said that the Electoral Registration Officers (ERO) prepare the electoral rolls, and the names that have been deleted included those who were not Indian citizens, those who had died, found registered at multiple places and had shifted permanently.

“There was a question on how many names were deleted. The names that have been excluded, as you all know… every ERO has done verification in their area through the claims and objections verification period followed by the verification process. In the state, about 65 lakh names [were] deleted first and then 3.66 lakhs [ineligible voters] have been deleted. These voters........

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