The Bihar assembly election schedule is expected to be announced this week, with voting likely to be held shortly after Chhath
The Congress on Sunday claimed that nearly 22.7 lakh women have had their names removed from Bihar's voter list under the Special Intensive Revision (SIR), with most deletions from 59 assembly seats that saw "close contests" in the 2020 elections.
At a press conference at the party's Indira Bhawan headquarters, All India Mahila Congress president Alka Lamba alleged that the Election Commission of India (ECI) 'targeted' Dalit and Muslim women voters in what she described as a "well-planned conspiracy" during the SIR.
"There are approximately 3.5 crore women voters in Bihar, but the names of approximately 23 lakh women (22.7 lakh) have been removed from the voters' list," she claimed.
Lamba said that these deletions will prevent many women from voting in the upcoming assembly elections. She listed Gopalganj, Saran, Begusarai, Samastipur, Bhojpur, and Purnea as six districts where the highest numbers of women voters have been removed. These districts together cover about 60 assembly seats.
She noted that in the 2020 assembly elections, in those seats, the INDIA bloc parties won 25 seats whereas NDA won 34, characterising many of these contests as narrowly decided.
In addition to deletions affecting women, Lamba claimed that approximately 15 lakh men have also been removed from the voter list. She emphasised the gender disparity, saying women are being disproportionately impacted.
The Congress has initiated a nationwide signature campaign, aiming to collect five crore signatures to protest what it terms 'vote theft'.
Lamba also questioned how names of women who voted in the Lok Sabha elections last year were allowed, if those names are now deemed invalid:
"When these same women cast their votes in the Lok Sabha elections last year, were these votes still fraudulent? Did these fake votes elect MPs who formed the government?"
She further accused the ECI of colluding with the BJP, stating:
"On one hand, Prime Minister Modi is depositing money into women's accounts to influence the Bihar elections, and on the other hand, he, in collusion with the Election Commission, deleted the names of approximately 23 lakh women from the voters' list."
"Modi has targeted and cancelled women's votes and taken away their rights. But no matter how much Narendra Modi and the Election Commission try, we will not allow 'vote theft' to happen in Bihar," she added.
As expected, Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar defended the SIR, declaring that it had "purified" the voter rolls after 22 years and that the EC carried out the exercise in compliance with law. He expressed satisfaction with the completed revision.
According to the ECI, following the SIR:
Supplementary lists during the polling process may cause marginal adjustments.
The Bihar assembly election schedule is expected to be announced this week, with voting likely to be held shortly after Chhath, a major festival in Bihar observed in the last week of October.