- 3 months ago
In this edition of Newstrack, the focus is on Bihar's final voter list, which was published by the Election Commission on Tuesday following a Special Intensive Revision (SIR).
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00:00Good evening, this is the NewsTrack and I'm Maria Shakir.
00:04The Election Commission has completed the special intensive revision of electoral rules in Bihar
00:08and the final voter list is out.
00:11Of the 65 lakh removed from the first list, 18 lakh added in the draft list.
00:17So post the SIR, the final deletion now stands at 47 lakhs.
00:21Remember, total number of electors in Bihar is now 7.42 crores,
00:26which means that the elector in Bihar in total have shrunk by 6%.
00:34As opposition Mahagadbandan continues to raise concerns
00:38and the ruling NDA hails clean up the question we ask on the show tonight,
00:43who benefits and who loses from this final deletion of 47 lakh voters?
00:48Which are the regions and districts of Bihar where maximum deletions have happened?
00:52And with SIR becoming a poll issue, who benefits from this narrative?
00:58All those questions I will raise with the guests will be joining me shortly.
01:02But first up, here's a report.
01:04The special intensive revision of electoral rules in Bihar is over.
01:20The Election Commission on Tuesday published the final voter list.
01:24The Bihar voter list had 7.89 crore voters on June 24 when the exercise started.
01:31The draft list released on August 1 had 7.24 crore voters after deletion of 65 lakh names.
01:40The final list on September 30 has 7.42 crore voters.
01:46Citizens can check the Election Commission website to know if their names are on the final list.
01:52Anyone left out can still apply up to 10 days before the last date for filing nominations for election.
01:57The opposition Mahagadbandhan has reacted with caution while the BJP has welcomed the SIR.
02:03The election commission has done a good job.
02:33leader of opposition Rahul Gandhi had undertaken a 15-day voter adhikar yatra in the state against
02:49alleged voter list fraud the yatra was hailed by the Congress top brass at the CWC meeting
02:56held in partner but since the yatra a lot has happened for instance Prime Minister Narendra
03:04Modi rolled out a 10,000 rupees direct cash transfer to 75 lakh women now with the final
03:12voter list out and the pitch ready for the assembly elections will the SIR remain as an election issue
03:18at all with Moshimi Singh and Aishwarya Paliwal Bureau report India today dr. Sanjay Kumar representing
03:28the JDU joins me professor Anwar Pasha representing the RJD Sajjan Kumar political analyst and we'll
03:33be joined by national spokesperson of the BJP Rohan Gupta in just a bit Sajjan Kumar I'm looking at
03:38the final list of course there'll be a detailed analysis of which are the regions from where this
03:44deletion has happened like it happened in the you know the initial list which was prepared but six
03:50percent shrinking of the overall elector in Bihar in comparison to what we have seen in other revisions
03:59you know because election commission undertakes these revision of voter list from time to time
04:05does it actually lead to the substantive six to seven percent shrinking of voter list
04:10uh not necessarily because six to seven percent deletion is primarily based on uh the ones who
04:19are no more the ones who have shifted or a very minuscule section who could not perhaps uh apply for
04:27with adequate uh document this is one uh secondly this six percent doesn't correspond to any particular
04:34caste or community or income group or a special group that way it is caste neutral community neutral
04:42region neutral locality neutral and also gender neutral as was seen in the draft list when it was
04:49published that contrary to the perception that it will go against the low income group poors obc the
04:55candidates minority women etc it was that was not the case we found that many of the district like
05:00patna etc came up with more uh deletion etc so that way since the deletion is rational on the basis of the
05:08people who are no more so anyway had that name been there right they were already deceased voter they
05:15would not have turned up to come and vote or the ones who have shifted but their name still continued they
05:21They would not have come. So, this shrinking of the voter will not reflect, you know, in the overall actual voting that was expected or that the political parties at the booth level expected.
05:31Okay. Okay. So, Professor Anwar Pasha and also to Dr. Sanjay Kumar as RJD and JDU spokespersons, you know, the fact is that in the last few weeks, because the entire exercise was being questioned, you had ensured mobilization of your BLAs.
05:48That they would ensure that all the documents are, you know, submitted on time. And with the addition of the 12th document in Aadhaar, you were hoping that this entire exercise, you know, all the questions that you were raising was being answered.
06:03You know, with Aadhaar in that list of the document, have you ensured that all those you thought were illegally deleted were back in the list?
06:14Professor Anwar Pasha.
06:16Yeah. Mariyaj, good evening.
06:18As a responsible opposition and custodian of the constitution and democracy, we have done our job.
06:28We have done our duty. We raised a lot against the conspiracy to delete the names of the poor and marginalized people of Bihar from the voter list.
06:40So, to some extent, we have succeeded in it because of our efforts.
06:48Many people whose names were deleted after the inclusion of Aadhaar card by the instruction of the Supreme Court, many names were included.
06:58But still, we find that despite we have succeeded to some extent, but as the list today that has been brought by the Election Commission.
07:09So, then, Professor Anwar Pasha, you will no longer say that this exercise was unfair?
07:14Yeah, yeah. We are saying that this whole exercise was not very fair and not very transparent.
07:23Okay. So, you continue to maintain that it lacked transparency.
07:27Still, there is a scope. Mariyaj, let me conclude.
07:32There is still, however, there is still, I think, the scope because we have not gone through the list.
07:39Today, in the evening, the list has been released by the Election Commission.
07:42Okay.
07:43So, we will go through it. We will scrutinize it. We will study it.
07:46And there are many discrepancies in the list.
07:48Okay.
07:49We will point it out. And on 7th, there is a hearing in the Supreme Court.
07:52That's right.
07:53We will brought all those points before the Supreme Court.
07:55Okay, fine.
07:55Because, one example I will give you.
07:57Yes.
07:582,17,000 people, they applied for deletion of their name.
08:04This is very amazing for me.
08:06I never heard that people in such a large number ever applied in the past for deletion of their name.
08:12What is this?
08:13I will give you one example of Dhaka. Dhaka, not Bangladesh.
08:17Dhaka, there is the assembly constituency in Ischamparan, in Bihar.
08:24In one constituency, around 80,000 people's names were recommended, all Muslims.
08:30Muslims' names were recommended by the BJP on their official letterhead to delete their names
08:36because they are not the citizens of India.
08:39So, keeping in mind this conspiracy, we believe that so many discrepancies will be there, are there.
08:45Okay, so you are still doubting this entire exercise.
08:47Dr. Sanjay Kumar of the JDU.
08:49Networked for a while, so I could not hear the RJD spokes pretty well.
09:00But, you know, as we have been saying, we had deputed BLAs on the ground and we are very satisfied with the entire process.
09:10And, yeah, so I think, you know, they have been talking about Vodchori and SIR Garbadi.
09:20But, you know, have you heard any noise or any voice from the ground?
09:26You know, in the age of social media, you know, we have not heard any protest or anything from the people.
09:33You know, it's only the Congress and RJD, specifically Congress, which has been talking about Vodchori and, you know,
09:43the irregulation by the election commission process.
09:47But we are very happy with the process and we are very satisfied.
09:52Okay, you are satisfied with this entire process.
09:55But, Dr. Sanjay Kumar, you know, Vodchori or SIR is becoming an election talking point.
10:02Multiple surveys are suggesting that.
10:05And if that happens, that will be certainly a disadvantage NDA.
10:09You have been in power for 20 years.
10:12Wouldn't you have wanted other issues to take center stage rather than this exercise?
10:18Yeah, so we, you know, we are not seeing that as an issue, to be honest.
10:25And we are fighting the election completely based on our achievements,
10:30the kind of development Mr. Nithya Kumar has done in the state and, you know, nothing beyond that.
10:37So we are just focusing on our achievements and we are also going to project how we are going to create Bihar 2.0, you know, with our vision.
10:47Okay, so what is this, because you are making me curious with this Bihar 2.0.
10:53Nithya Kumar has been in power for 20 years.
10:56What will be the new Bihar then?
10:58It should be Bihar 4.0 or 5.0 now?
11:01No, so we, you know, with a new vision of creating 1 crore jobs,
11:07we have been talking about new industrial policy.
11:10You know, so new things are coming to, you know, like create more employment in the state, within the state,
11:17so that we can, we can, you know, welcome our youngsters in the state and they can find jobs in the state.
11:26So with the new industrial policy and with the new job creation plan,
11:30you know, we are calling it new Bihar, you know, nothing else.
11:34Okay, Rohan Gupta National Spokesperson of the BJP is also with us now.
11:38Initially in the first stage, 65 lakh deleted, additional deletion happened at 3.66.
11:46Now total deletion is 68.5, combined initial and additional, names added 21.53.
11:52So in all, the drop is 47 lakh.
11:58That's a huge number.
11:59And as I was telling Sajjan Kumar, it's almost like shrinking of 66%.
12:04The entire electorate in Bihar has now shrunk by 6%.
12:08You know, one may say that you would have calculated, given the kind of booth management that the BJP has,
12:16it would have ensured that this, that your voters are very much there on the list.
12:21But overall, this exercise has been under the cloud of doubt and suspicion.
12:27And of course, this entire battle was, you know, fought in the Supreme Court as well.
12:32Rohan Gupta.
12:33See, Maria, I feel that for any suspicion or doubt to be proved, you need evidence, right?
12:38We are sitting today, the whole exercise has been carried out very, very currently,
12:42where this list was given to opposition party of the 65 lakh voters.
12:46And what opposition, could opposition party find a self-evidence
12:50where they can prove that vote should be by election commission?
12:53No, because I have been in Bihar as a warm in charge here.
12:56Maria, this issue has ensured that wins gifted to NDA by Indi Garbandan leaders.
13:03I'm telling you with great responsibility.
13:05I know why.
13:06It clearly proves that even after so many years of NDA rule, they don't have any issue on ground.
13:13That's why they had to take issue of vote story, number one.
13:16What, who is getting impacted by vote story issue?
13:18The people whose name are already there in voter list.
13:21They are satisfied.
13:22For them, it is non-issue.
13:24Another 65 lakh people whose names have been deleted, is opposition, any opposition party
13:29able to give any evidence that this is deleted with purpose or with bad intention?
13:35The answer is no.
13:36So then who is getting impacted by this thing?
13:38You can create euphoria.
13:39You can, you know, talk about big, big things.
13:42But at the end of the day, the final person who is getting impacted either is going to vote for you
13:47or he's going to vote against you.
13:49You tell me one person who is getting impacted where he feels that his right has been taken over
13:53by this process.
13:54No.
13:55Professor Anwar Pasha says that they have submitted documents in the Supreme Court.
13:58The RJD and the Congress and the CPIML, they have submitted documents against the entire exercise
14:07in the Supreme Court.
14:09See, why they have submitted any document of any person out of this 65 lakhs?
14:15If they are submitting to Supreme Court, if you are feeling that this process is something
14:20wrong, out of this 65 lakhs, how many evidence they have submitted?
14:24No, but the new electors before final rule is now 21.53.
14:29So overall, from 65, the deletion is now down to 47, which means there are 18 lakhs voters
14:37which have been added.
14:38Which means that they submitted their documents that they are the voters of Bihar.
14:43They have the proof of residence.
14:45Absolutely.
14:46They are new.
14:47There are many voters who have turned 18 and they are new voters, right?
14:51Right.
14:52So that number is there.
14:53This 21 lakhs is the number of new voters.
14:55So you cannot link this 65 with this 21 lakhs.
14:57No, no, no.
14:58Not 21.
14:59Again, I am repeating my point.
15:00Yeah.
15:0121 lakh is not the number of new voters.
15:0321.53.
15:04No.
15:0521 lakh is not the number of new voters.
15:07That is what it is.
15:08Not the new voters.
15:10Which essentially means that those who were deleted, they are making a comeback.
15:14Some of them.
15:15The new voters which are added.
15:16I am saying.
15:17Voters who have been added.
15:18I am saying new voters added is 21.
15:19Yes.
15:20Yes.
15:21Absolutely.
15:22Absolutely.
15:23So that is what I am saying.
15:24Professor Anwar Pasha.
15:25Okay.
15:26Professor Anwar Pasha.
15:27I think the wrong data are being produced.
15:31Okay.
15:32As you have rightly said that the number of voters who were deleted in the first stage by
15:39the election commission that has come down to, from 65, it has come down to 47 lakhs.
15:45So this itself shows that how the people were being deprived of their right, how their
15:51voting right was being taken away by the election commission in collision with BJP.
15:57They are not even able to understand how this number has come down.
16:01Because we made people aware and people submitted their documents and they got their names included
16:08in the list.
16:09That's why it has happened.
16:10Otherwise, they were bent upon deleting their names and depriving them of their rights.
16:15So we have convinced the people, we helped the people to submit their documents and their
16:25names are now in the list.
16:27So they are not able to.
16:29I think the JDU spokesperson told that there is no unrest.
16:36People are not disturbed.
16:37People are happy.
16:38Yeah.
16:39But there is no unrest.
16:40No.
16:41People have not.
16:42Did you see?
16:43Did you see the vote-chori-yatra in Bihar?
16:47Did you see the flood of people?
16:50No.
16:51No.
16:52No.
16:53No.
16:54No.
16:55No.
16:56No.
16:57No.
16:58No.
16:59No.
17:00No.
17:01No.
17:02That's not fair.
17:03In the same time to use the word unrest may not be correct either.
17:06The word unrest may not be correct either.
17:09The way they came and supported us.
17:11To say that they are unrest, unrest is not correct either.
17:15There is no mobilization.
17:17I am in a state which is so politically charged.
17:20People are taking away their rights.
17:22There is no taking away their rights here.
17:24They were angry.
17:25That's why they came on the road.
17:26They came on the street.
17:27And they supported us.
17:29Lags and lags people.
17:31They came and supported our yatra.
17:34It shows how they think about this entire world.
17:38And how they supported us.
17:40And how they expressed their anger.
17:42Dr. Sanjay Kumar.
17:44They are trying to...
17:46I want to give you a very different perspective of this edition.
17:52This may be a reverse migration.
17:56New voters registering themselves into the state.
18:00That may be also a case.
18:03We don't know.
18:04You know the data has just come out.
18:06So we don't know yet.
18:08Yeah.
18:09So...
18:10That's why we are saying...
18:12After studying the scrutiny of the data.
18:16We will give our...
18:18Whatever the questions we have in our mind.
18:20We will give to the Supreme Court.
18:22And the Supreme Court has said.
18:23Very rightly.
18:24The Supreme Court has said.
18:25That if there is...
18:26If it is not carried out fairly.
18:28If there is no transparency.
18:29Yes.
18:30If you find discrepancies in this entire exercise.
18:33Okay.
18:34Rohan Gupta, you wanted to come in.
18:35That will be...
18:36Sanjay Kumar...
18:37No.
18:38First.
18:39First.
18:40One moment.
18:41Dr. Sanjay Kumar first.
18:42Go ahead.
18:43Saying that if he is...
18:44You know like...
18:45We are very happy to hear what Supreme Court has to say.
18:48But we are very sure that...
18:50You know whatever has happened in the state.
18:52During the SIR process.
18:54You know it's all very correct.
18:56And we are...
18:57We are very...
18:58We are very confident.
19:00That...
19:01This is not...
19:02At all any agenda in the state.
19:04You know it's a very...
19:06Created...
19:07Created agenda by...
19:09By Congress.
19:10Not even by RJD.
19:11They are trying to support.
19:12But...
19:13You know like...
19:14It's...
19:15It's not an agenda for us.
19:16Why are you giving a clean sheet to the RJD?
19:18In fact RJD is also a petitioner in the Supreme Court.
19:20Why are you saying that they are not creating this an issue?
19:23They are making this an issue.
19:25It's an issue of the Mahagat Bandar.
19:27They are making an issue.
19:28They are ignoring the facts.
19:29If you find out...
19:30What is going on?
19:31Mariya.
19:32Mariya Ji, I will give one example I will give you.
19:36As far as this...
19:38This revision of the electoral roll is concerned.
19:41In all the revisions exercise in the past.
19:45The number of voters were increased.
19:47It was increased.
19:48This is the first revision in which the number of voters have come down.
19:52So this was not for the inclusion of the...
19:54People have died.
19:55People have died.
19:56This was for the deletion of the voters.
19:57Okay.
19:58So...
19:59No, no, no, no.
20:00I am not too sure if that is the correct assessment.
20:01The final list which has come today...
20:02If people have died or have migrated out of the state, they cannot be in this list.
20:07If you are not a resident of Bihar, you cannot be in the list.
20:08If you have passed...
20:09If somebody has died, why should that name be there in the list?
20:10Okay.
20:11I have Rohan Gupta and then the last one to suggest.
20:12In my family...
20:13In my family...
20:14In my family...
20:15In my family...
20:16In my family...
20:17In my family...
20:18In my family...
20:19If you have passed...
20:20If somebody has died, why should that name be there in the list?
20:22Okay.
20:23I have Rohan Gupta and then the last one to suggest.
20:24In my family...
20:25In my family...
20:26In my family...
20:27In my family...
20:28In my family...
20:29In my family...
20:30Rohan Gupta...
20:31Rohan Gupta...
20:32Maria...
20:33This is the height of hypocrisy by opposition leaders.
20:35In Karnataka...
20:36They are saying that one voter has two...
20:38Twice their name in voice...
20:40It is vote...
20:41You can't say that if the duplicate voter is...
20:44It is vote...
20:45Then what is it?
20:46It's a process, right?
20:47Okay.
20:48Professor Anwar Pasha, you have to be patient now.
20:49You have to listen to others.
20:51Don't speak in words.
20:52Professor Anwar Pasha, please now...
20:53You are fine now.
20:54You are exposed.
20:55Yes.
20:56Wait.
20:57This is the problem.
20:58In one state, they are saying that duplicate voter is votatory.
21:01Another state, the deletion of duplicate voter is votatory.
21:03There was a whole process which was laid down from the beginning.
21:06Where the draft list was published.
21:08Everybody was given right to represent in case their name was deleted.
21:11Today, the final lift is going to...
21:13I think it's come.
21:14So then where is the issue?
21:15You don't follow the process because you have created...
21:17I tried to create a narrative which is not resonating on ground.
21:20So now it has become your compulsion to justify something which is not justifiable in
21:24the eyes of people.
21:25So that is the situation of this Indian government.
21:28And that's why smartly RJD is moving away from this narrative.
21:31Because on ground, this narrative is not working for...
21:34They have realized that.
21:35And that's why they are...
21:36Okay.
21:37Sajjan, as someone who is on ground has been researching extensively and trying to understand
21:44the ground situation of Bihar.
21:47Of course, SIR is now increasingly being seen as one of the issues which is being talked about.
21:54Not necessarily a voting issue.
21:56An issue on which an individual will cast his or her vote.
22:00But having said that, if this is an issue which can impact the overall election scene in Bihar,
22:09which are the regions do you think it will be impacted most?
22:12Maria, overwhelmingly I also tend to go by the perception that this is an issue for people like us,
22:26media personality, political parties and the stakeholders who are looking at elections from top-down perspective.
22:33Right?
22:34On the ground, you know, bottom of perspective, I do not see SIR as a prime electoral determinant.
22:42Right?
22:43Nevertheless, let's assume which section is going to be enthused the most.
22:48Now, here is the crucial point.
22:50Compared to 2020, let's look at the Mahagatva.
22:53In 2020, it was Tejasvi who was setting the narrative.
22:57He was in the driving seat.
22:59Yes.
23:00You know, in 2025, SIR is an issue around which Mahagatva has rallied,
23:04but Congress is in the pilot's position and RJD is on the passenger seat.
23:08And Congress as a party doesn't have the kind of a candor and organizational strength
23:13to carry it forward and make it the electoral issue that matters.
23:17Right?
23:18For voting, behaviour and voting influence.
23:20So that way I see that more than the people, it is going to set the narrative of Congress
23:27around which RJD is trying to accommodate.
23:30That is why you see the nomenclatural difference.
23:32Congress calls it vote chodi and yatra around that.
23:36Tejasvi Yadav calls it Bihar Adhikar Yatra.
23:39So you also see the difference of semantics.
23:43So I think narrative this time is being set from opposition by the Congress
23:48and RJD is forced to follow the suit.
23:50Okay, that's an interesting observation.
23:52That's an interesting observation there.
23:54Let me correct you.
23:55Sajjan Kumar, Rohan Gupta, Professor Anwar Pasha and Dr. Sanjay Kumar,
23:58really appreciate your time.
23:59Thank you so much for joining me on this edition of The News Track.
24:02I'll be seeing you tomorrow.
24:03Thanks so much for watching.
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