The list of voters in New India still has the wrong photos and dead people

A few days ago, the Election Commission in India released updated electoral rollers for the Bihar state, where the key elections were scheduled for November, after a monthly revision of the voter list.

But opposition parties and charity organizations claim that the exercise has been pressed – and many Bihar voters have told the BBC that the project has the wrong photos and include dead people.

The special intensive audit – more known for its abbreviation, sir – was held from June 25 to July 26, and the commission said that its employees visited each of the 78.9 million voters listed by the state to check their data. It states that the last such revision is in 2003 and an update is needed.

The new rollers have 72.4 million names – 6.5 million less than before. The committee says the deletion includes 2.2 million dead, 700,000 have been recorded more than once and 3.6 million who have migrated from the state.

The amendments are open until September 1, with over 165,000 applications received. A similar review will be conducted across the country to check nearly a billion voters.

But opposition parties have accused the committee for the dropping out of many voters – especially Muslims who make up a significant part of the population in four border areas – to assist Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s party of Bharati Janna (BJP) of upcoming state elections.

The survey organ and BJP denied the allegations. In response to the BBC’s questions, the Election Commission shared its order of June 24 for a SIR and a note on the press of July 27, outlining the efforts to ensure that no eligible voter was “left behind”.

“Moreover, (the Commission) assumes no responsibility for other misinformation or unfounded allegations that are borne by some interests,” he added in the reply.

The Commission has not released the list of deleted names or is given a separation according to religion, so it is not possible to check the opposition’s fears.

A review Hindustan Times discovered tall voters in Kishangand, an area with the largest share of Muslims in Bihar, but not in other Muslim constituencies.

Parliament has been confronted with repeated postponements, as opposition MPs require a debate about what they call a threat to democracy. Outside, they chanted “Down Fashion”, “Take Sir Back” and “Stop stealing voices.” The Supreme Court also reviews this move after the ADR guard calls into question his time.

“It comes just three months before the Assembly election and has not been given enough time for the exercise,” Jagdip Chokar of ADR told the BBC.

“As reports from Earth showed, there were irregularities when the exercise was conducted and the data collection process was a massively defective,” he added.

ADR claims in court that the exercise “will defuse millions of real voters” in a country that is one of the most, in India and is home to a “large number of marginalized communities”.

It says that Sir transfers the weight to people to prove their citizenship, often demanding the documents of their own and their parents in the short term – an impossible task for millions of poor migrants.

As the project was published, we traveled to Patna and nearby villages to hear what the voters were thinking about.

In the village of Danara, the home of the poorest of the poor, known as Mahadalites, most residents work on farms with upper castes or are unemployed.

The homes collapse, the open lines of the narrow sails and the stagnant puddle near the local temple has become salt.

Most residents had little or no idea of Sir or their impact, and many were not sure if employees even visited their homes.

But they deeply value their voice. “The loss would be detrimental,” Reha Devi says. “This will push us further into poverty.”

In the village of Harika, many men said they had heard of Sir and sent forms by spending 300 rupees (£ 3,42; £ 2,55) to take new photos. But after the draft roles came out, a farmer and retirement teacher Tarkeshwar Singh called it a “mess”. He shared pages showing details about his family – he points out mistakes, including the wrong photo to his name.

“I have no idea whose photo it is,” he says, adding that his wife Suryaka Devi and son Rayev also have the wrong photos. “But the worst is the case of my other son Azheev – he has a picture of an unknown woman.”

Mr. Singh continues to list other anomalies-in the document of his daughter-in-law Juhi Kumari, he is referred to as a husband in place of his son. Another daughter-in-law, Sangeta Singh, is indicated twice from the same address-only one has its right photo and date of birth.

Many of his relatives and neighbors, according to him, have similar complaints. He indicates the name of a cousin who died more than five years ago, but still appears in the list – and at least two names that appear twice.

“Obviously there is no check. The list has dead people and duplicates and many of them who have not even filled the form. This is an abuse of state machines and billions of rupees that have been spent on this exercise.”

ADR Chhokar says they will raise these issues in the Supreme Court this week. In July, the court stated that the exercise would remain if the petitioners produce 15 real voters who disappeared from the overturning project.

“But how do we do this because the Commission did not provide a list of 6.5 million names that have been removed?” he asks.

Mr Chhokar says the justice of the bench with two judges suggested that the exercise be deleted from the upcoming elections in order to provide more time for a proper examination.

“I will be pleased with this absorption,” he says.

Sir and the project roles have divided the parties of Bihar: opposition Rashtria Gianna Dahl (RJD) questions them, while the ruling Gianna Dahl (United) – BJP Alliance supports them.

“The complexity of this revision has left many people confused,” says Shivanand Tivani, RJD Secretary General.

Tivani questions “the allegations of an election committee that 98.3% voters have completed their forms” and say “in most villages, our voters and workers say that the employee at the Bloc (BLOG) employee – generally a local teacher appointed by the committee to go to the door to the door – they do not visit them. (The Commission stated that BLOS had worked “very responsibly.”)

Tivari claims that “the committee is a guerrilla and this is an election manipulation.”

“We believe that the goal is borderline areas where many Muslims live who never vote for BJP,” he says.

BJP and JD (U) rejected criticism, saying “It’s entirely political.”

“Only Indian citizens have the right to vote, and we believe that many Rochinggy and Bangladeshi have settled in the border areas in recent years. And they must be detached from the list,” said Bhim Singh, BJP MP from Bihar.

“Sir has nothing to do with someone’s religion and the opposition raises her because they know that they will lose the upcoming elections and will need a scapegoat to be guilty of their loss,” he added.

The chief spokesman for JD (U) and State legislator Neral Kumar Singh said that “the election committee is doing only its work.”

“There are many voters in the list that appear twice or even three times. So shouldn’t it be adjusted?” he asks.