The Election Commission has “no practical knowledge” of the history of Bihar and has “forcefully imposed” the revision of electoral rolls on the state’s residents, Janata Dal (United) MP Giridhari Yadav was quoted as saying by ANI on Wednesday.

The Janata Dal (United) is a key ally of the Bharatiya Janata Party.

Yadav clarified that the statement was his opinion. “It took 10 days for me to collect all of my documents,” the MP told ANI. “My son stays in America. How will he do the signatures in just a month?”

He said that at least six months should have been given for the electoral roll revision.

“This is the truth,” he said. “If I cannot say the truth, why have I become an MP?”

The revision of the electoral rolls in Bihar was announced by the Election Commission on June 24.

As part of the exercise, persons whose names were not on the 2003 voter list will need to submit proof of eligibility to vote. This means that 2.9 crore out of the state’s 7.8 crore voters – or about 37% of the electors – will have to submit documentary evidence.

Voters born before July 1, 1987, must show proof of their date and place of birth, while those born between July 1, 1987, and December 2, 2004, must also submit documents establishing the date and place of birth of one of their parents. Those born after December 2, 2004, will need proof of date of birth for themselves and both parents.

If the officers are satisfied with the details provided, the voters will be re-enrolled to a new voter list by electoral registration officers. If not, they will be removed from the voter lists.

A draft roll will be published on August 1 and the final roll will be out on September 30.

On July 2, eleven INDIA bloc parties told the Election Commission that the special intensive revision of Bihar’s electoral rolls risked disenfranchising more than 2.5 crore voters, as they may not be able to produce the necessary documents.

Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar on July 6 defended the exercise, claiming that the exercise had to be carried out as no one was satisfied with the current voter rolls.

Yadav’s statement came days after the Telugu Desam Party, another key ally of the BJP, had asked the Election Commission to “clearly state” that the special intensive revision of voter rolls is not linked to citizenship verification.

In a letter to the poll panel on July 15, the party also said that such exercises should be conducted with sufficient preparation time and “ideally not within six months of any major election”.

The Opposition leaders in the Bihar Assembly have been protesting against the ongoing exercise and demanding a discussion on it.

On Wednesday, the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha also witnessed a ruckus over the exercise, with Opposition MPs shouting slogans in both Houses and demanding a rollback of the decision to review electoral rolls, reported The Indian Express.

“We are continuously demanding a discussion on this in Parliament, but that demand is not being accepted,” Congress leader Pawan Khera was quoted as saying by ANI. “We ask questions to the Election Commission, but the BJP answers. This is a unique tradition that has started now.”

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