4 Bihar districts with high Muslim count in top 10 that saw maximum voter deletions

Bihar’s Madhubani, East Champaran, Purnia and Sitamarhi districts that have a significant Muslim population are among the 10 districts that saw the highest voter deletions in the draft electoral rolls released by the Election Commission on August 1 after the completion of the first phase of the special intensive revision (SIR).

The development comes amid the Opposition’s allegations that the SIR was aimed at excluding migrant, Muslim, Dalit and poor voters from the poll rolls.

Of the four districts, Madhubani saw the highest number of 3,52,545 unreturned enumeration forms, according to the EC data. The district had 18 per cent Muslim population, as per the 2011 Census. East Champaran, with 19 per cent Muslims, stood second with 3,16,793 unreturned forms, followed by Purnia (39 per cent Muslims) with 2,73,920 forms and Sitamarhi (22 per cent Muslims) with 2,44,962 forms. The non-receipt of enumeration forms suggests a voter’s exclusion from the rolls.

The other districts among the top 10 with maximum deletions are Patna (3,95,500), Gopalganj (3,10,363), Samastipur (2,83,955), Muzaffarpur (2,82,845), Saran (2,73,223) and Gaya (2,45,663).

The EC draft rolls showed 22,34,501 voters as deceased, 36,28,210 having permanently shifted and 7,01,364 enrolled at more than one place. In all, the names of 65,64,075 voters have been deleted. To allay the fears of the electorate, the poll panel said more than 7.24 crore voters had filled up the forms and all of them had been included in the draft rolls. It said claims and objections to the draft rolls could be filed by voters between August 1 and September 1. The process would facilitate the addition of eligible electors and the deletion of ineligible voters, the EC said.