SIR forms in English being distributed in Bihar: CPI(ML) Liberation complains to EC

New Delhi, Jul 5 (PTI) Amid the ongoing exercise of Special Intensive Revision of electoral roll in Bihar, Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) Liberation on Saturday wrote to the Election Commission that the forms given to booth level agents (BLA) are in English which was making it difficult for people to fill.

In a letter to the poll panel, CPI(ML) alleged that issuing BLA forms in English is an "exclusionary exercise making it difficult for people to even fill the forms".

"The EC claimed this to be a serious and well-planned exercise. However, the unavailability of forms in Hindi raises questions about the claims of the commission," CPI(ML) said.

They claimed that reports were emerging from various districts, including Bhojpur and Gopalganj, that people were being told to submit enumeration forms without any enabling documents.

"The lack of uniformity is further causing chaos among the people, leading to great anxiety," the Left party said.

"The concern that was being raised by the ten opposition parties of the INDIA block during the meeting at your office about the glaring inconsistencies, about the confusion and pandemonium is being corroborated by ground reports with the ongoing Bihar SIR exercise," it said.

The CPI(ML) urged the poll panel to clarify the concerns raised in the letter at the earliest.

The Election Commission has issued instructions to carry out a Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in Bihar to weed out ineligible names and ensure all eligible citizens are included in the electoral roll, allowing them to exercise their franchise in the polls slated later this year.

Opposition INDIA bloc has urged the poll panel to stop the exercise, saying it may lead to disenfranchisement of many, and has termed it as "vote-bandi". PTI AO RT RT