'Hold Bihar SIR again': Congress accuses EC of rejecting 89 lakh complaints; flags 'irregularities'

NEW DELHI: The Election Commission dismissed around 89 lakh complaints of irregularities flagged by the Congress's Booth Level Agents (BLAs) during the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls in Bihar, Pawan Khera claimed on Sunday.

Alleging that the irregularities cast doubt on the intention of the EC, the chairman of the media and publicity department of the Congress, Khera, demanded that the entire exercise be conducted again.

“The EC keeps getting news planted through its sources that no complaints are coming from any political party. The truth is that the Congress submitted 89 lakh complaints pertaining to irregularities in the SIR to the EC,” Khera said in a press conference in Patna.

“When our BLAs went to file complaints, their complaints were turned down by the EC. The EC categorically told our BLAs that complaints could be accepted by individuals only, not by political parties,” Khera claimed.

Earlier, Bihar Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) also dismissed reports alleging large-scale duplication in the state’s draft electoral rolls (SIR 2025), calling the claims “speculative, premature, and contrary to law.”

In a post on X, the CEO emphasised that the SIR is a statutory exercise conducted under the Representation of the People Act 1950 and the Registration of Electors Rules 1960. "The SIR is an ongoing statutory process carried out under the Representation of the People Act, 1950 and the Registration of Electors Rules," the CEO said.