The Election Commission of India’s (ECI) completion of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Bihar, brings the final tally to 7.42 crore electors , a significant drop from the 7.89 crore figure before the exercise began. While the purpose was indeed to clean up the rolls, the lived reality of the exercise, including the manner in which it had to be corrected by the Supreme Court of India, renders the ECI’s ambition to extend the SIR nationwide a matter of concern. The events in Bihar warned of the dangers of adopting a default attitude of suspicion towards the electorate. While the reasons for the deletion of 65 lakh names from the draft rolls , on ostensible grounds such as death, migration, duplication and lack of enumeration, were administratively sound, the pro

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