Saharsa (Bihar) [India], July 13 : Jan Suraaj Party founder Prashant Kishor raised concerns over the claims that the Election Commission's Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voter lists for Bihar elections revealed names of people from Bangladesh, Nepal, and Myanmar.
Prashant Kishor asked ECI whether the Lok Sabha elections were held according to the voter list, which included the names of "Bangladeshis or illegal people."
"The Election Commission has started the revision process. If they are saying that there are Nepalis and Bangladeshis here, then this is a matter of great concern. Is the Election Commission admitting that the voter list used for the Lok Sabha elections included a large number of Bangladeshis or illegal people?", Prashant Kishor told reporters.
The Jan Suraaj Party founder further slammed the Nitish Kumar-led Bihar government over the issue and also questioned the role of police and administration in the matter.
Kishor called for answers from Bihar CM Nitish Kumar and asked how "such people" were allowed to live in Bihar and avail themselves of the state facilities.
"The second major issue is that if these people are coming and living in Bihar, then there is a BJP-Nitish government in Bihar, how are these people living here? What is the police administration doing? The Nitish government should answer how, under their rule, such people have been allowed to come and live in Bihar, avail the facilities here, and get the right to vote?" he asked.
Earlier on Sunday, Rashtriya Janata Dal leader Tejashwi Yadav rubbished claims that the Election Commission's SIR of voter lists for Bihar elections revealed names of people from Bangladesh, Nepal, and Myanmar.
He questioned the credibility of sources making such claims, likening them to rumours about Islamabad, Karachi, and Lahore being captured.
"Who are these sources? These are the same sources that said that Islamabad, Karachi, and Lahore have been captured. 'Ye sootra ko hum mootra samajhte hai' (We consider these sources to be nonsense)," Yadav said.
ECI sources said that a large number of individuals from Nepal, Bangladesh and Myanmar have been found by Booth Level Officers (BLOs) with Aadhaar cards, domicile certificates and ration cards during house-to-house visits carried out as part of the SIR.
ECI sources added that after a proper enquiry is conducted from August 1 to 30, if found true, such names shall not be included in the final list to be published on September 30, 2025.
The state will go to Assembly polls later in the year.
Notably, the BLOs have already digitised and uploaded 4.66 crore Enumeration Forms in ECINet, as on Sunday evening. ECINet is the newly developed integrated software that has subsumed all the different 40 ECI apps that had existed earlier.