Cancel SIR, conduct poll on revised January 2025 roll: CPI

Patna: With around a fortnight left for the publication of the final electoral roll, the Bihar CPI on Wednesday demanded that the Election Commission (EC) should roll back and cancel the ongoing special intensive revision (SIR) of the electoral roll.

The party insisted that the upcoming state assembly elections be conducted on the basis of the revised Jan 2025 electoral roll.The demand was made through a resolution adopted on the third day of the CPI’s 25th state conference, currently underway at the Gait Public Library campus in Gardanibagh since Monday.Accusing the EC of acting as a “partner” of the BJP and the Union govt, the CPI said, “The state CPI strongly objects to such a stance and behavior of the EC and condemns attempts by the BJP and the Centre to turn the EC into an instrument for their political interests.”The party alleged that the SIR process was flawed and discriminatory. Of the state’s 65.64 lakh electors, it said, 22 lakh have been declared dead, 25 lakh marked as migrated to other states and cities, while others were listed as “not available” at their addresses. “Our initial suspicion that the SIR’s aim was to delist the poor, dalits, backward classes, and migrant workers from the electoral roll has now been confirmed,” the CPI said.

The party also lashed out at the Nitish govt, accusing it of failing to control the “deteriorating crime situation” in the state. Citing National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data, the CPI claimed incidents of murder, rape and violence against women have risen since 2005. “The NDA govt is responsible for this,” the resolution said, adding that killings of traders and political workers have become alarmingly frequent.The CPI further demanded 50% reservation for women in the Lok Sabha and state legislatures, calling the Centre’s Nari Shakti Vandan Act, 2023 inadequate as it would only be implemented after the completion of the census and delimitation exercise.