Araria, Kishanganj (Bihar)August 31, 2025 08:16 PM IS
First printed: August thirty first, 2025, 8:15pm
Lately, RJD’s Jokihat Mla Shahnawaz Alam has spent most of his time in Sisauna, an ancestor village in Bihar’s Araria district. With the Election Fee’s September 1 deadline for importing identification paperwork, Alam is fearful that constituency paperwork is not going to be submitted at greater than 85%.
Araria is a part of the Simanic area of Bihar, with 4 districts having a substantial Muslim inhabitants. Whereas in Kishanganj, over 70% of the inhabitants comes from minority communities, whereas Purnia, Araria and Katihar have a Muslim inhabitants of 40-45%, in distinction to the 17% of the state.
In the course of the ongoing SIR course of, 4 Schwanchal districts recorded a rush of individuals making use of for housing certificates. In line with authorities knowledge, within the first two weeks of July, Purnia obtained 98,200 functions, Katihar 1.32 Lakh, Kishanganj 3.23 Lakh and Araria 53,556 functions.
Bihar Deputy CM Samrat Choudhary informed the Indian Categorical that the surge in housing functions within the space “indicating that lots of the candidates are immigrants from different international locations. A major proportion of Kishanganj persons are from Bangladesh, Nepal and Butane.”
Jokihat Mla Alam says the push of residence certificates is as a result of individuals within the state’s most rear-region have few paperwork aside from Aadhaar and Ration playing cards, and aren’t one of many EC lists of 11 ID paperwork within the SIR course of.
“This isn’t a developed space. The Joki Hat Meeting Sheet doesn’t have greater than 10% of voters with a Class 10 certificates. As such, housing certificates are essentially the most sought out of the 11 paperwork mandated by the EC,” he says.
The Jokihat block alone has pending functions for over 50,000 residential certificates with public service centre rights.
“We do not have 1,000 functions per day. How can we meet the deadline? We now have severe considerations that many individuals might find yourself dropping out of the ultimate election position.”
Requested concerning the excessive suppression of housing functions in Seemanchal and several other different areas, concerning Nodal companies for service supply within the state, a Bihar administrative reform mission official, mentioned, “We now have to cease intermittently as a result of now we have too many certificates of residence. Time.”
In Sisauna village in Araria, former Mukhiya Abdul Mannan says that a number of electors in his village, largely girls, and day by day bets might go outdoors the voter checklist till they’re allowed to submit ration playing cards with Aadhaar. “Despite our greatest efforts, we have been unable to get a blos at individuals’s doorsteps to gather and information their paperwork,” Mannan says.
One of many three chunks of Sisauna Village who spoke on situation of anonymity says that round 10-12% of the 1,800 electors solely have Aadhaar or ration playing cards as proof of identification.
At Thakurganj in Kishanganj district, booth-level officers – official officers appointed to the EC with the intention of filling out the shape and importing paperwork forward of deadlines – mentioned, “Most individuals have submitted their residence certificates. Those that are unable to submit any of the 11 paperwork are making use of for these certificates.
Delete voter checklist
Roughly 100 individuals marked “useless” or “completely shifted” have been faraway from the draft roll. Requested if there may very well be extra deletions, Blo mentioned, “It is as much as my supervisor. I do know who is aware of, at the least 5-7% of persons are within the hazard zone.”
On the Bahadurganj block workplace in Kishanganj district, the place Blos is busy sorting electoral paperwork, officers say 87% of the types within the block have been uploaded in one in all 11 paperwork.
One of many Bross says they’re going through extra issues than voters utilizing aliases. “In some instances, voter names don’t match different paperwork as a result of they used a voter I card alias,” he says.
In Guna Chaurasi village of Bahadurganj, a small businessman Kurshid Alam (56), listed within the 2003 checklist, “My identify is Kurshid, however it’s spelled out as a draft roll basic. It causes bother for me. The affidavit states that it’s Mahenigal, not Nigal Jehan.
Rukhsana Khatun, who appeared to submit paperwork within the Bahadurganj Block Workplace, mentioned, “I do not know how one can get my mother and father’ identification paperwork. I wasn’t a voter in 2003. I obtained my father’s Aadhaar card.
