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Surge in booth-level agents from parties opposed to Bihar’s Special Intensive Revision
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....urge in booth-level agents from parties opposed to Bihar’s Special Intensive Revision<BR>PTI News<BR>Dated:- 11-7-2025<BR>PTI<BR>Patna, Jul 11 (PTI) Over 1.5 lakh booth-level agents (BLAs) have been nominated by political parties for the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Bihar, with even those stridently opposed to the exercise now participating vigorously, according to data....
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.... shared by the Election Commission. The number of BLAs registered with the EC has shot up by 13 per cent since the mammoth exercise was ordered on June 24, according to data. So far, the survey has covered 5.22 crore voters, which is more than two-third of the electorate in the poll-bound state. The three parties, which account for less then 20 per cent of the 243-member state Assembly, have le....
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....d the protests against the drive, claiming it is meant to "benefit" the NDA in the elections later this year. Parties which have contributed the most to the spurt, in terms of percentage, are INDIA bloc partners CPI(ML) Liberation (446 per cent), CPI(M) (666 per cent) and the Congress (92 per cent). Talking to PTI, Kunal, state secretary of CPI(ML) Liberation said, "Yes, we have engaged a large ....
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....number of BLAs to ensure that no voter is left out in the SIR, especially in our area. The party has decided to increase the strength of BLAs further". The number of agents nominated by the Left party has soared from 233 to 1,227. Incidentally, the party's top leader, Dipankar Bhattacharya, is among the petitioners who challenged the exercise before the Supreme Court. The Left party's concerns ....
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....is shared by the Congress, which recently saw Rahul Gandhi hitting the streets here, to allege that the EC was "trying to replicate in Bihar the model of voters' list's manipulation last seen in Maharashtra". The grand old party has nominated 16,500 BLAs, up from 8,586. Bihar Congress spokesman Rajesh Rathore said, "It is necessary to have adequate number of BLAs so that the work done by poll of....
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....ficials is effectively monitored. If need be, our party will have more boots on the ground". Another party worth mentioning, for having nearly trebled its number of BLAs from 26 to 74 (185 per cent), is the BSP headed by former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati. Though the party is not aligned with any dominant formation in Bihar, it has been contesting assembly polls here with modest success....
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..... In terms of numbers, the biggest contributor is Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s JD(U), which has added nearly 6,000 new BLAs — an increase of 24 per cent. Since SIR was ordered, the total number of BLAs has increased by nearly 18,000, reaching 1.56 lakh approximately. In terms of total number of BLAs nominated by respective parties, the list is topped by BJP (52,689), unsurprising for a par....
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....ty with a reputation for organisational depth and also boasting of the highest number of MLAs in the state. The BJP is followed closely by its principal rival in the state, the RJD (47,504) and the two close competitors have raised their respective number of BLAs by one per cent each. RJD spokesman Mrityunjay Tiwari said, "SIR has entered a critical stage with the Supreme Court suggesting that A....
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....adhaar cards be included in the list of acceptable documents to be submitted by voters, but EC maintaining a deafening silence. Leaving nothing to chance, we have deployed an adequate number of BLAs and if the need arises, more will be nominated". A significant number of BLAs has also been nominated by Union Minister Chirag Paswan's Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) with 1,153 agents, and by his es....
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....tranged uncle Pashupati Kumar Paras' Rashtriya Lok Janshakti Party, which nominated 1,913 — despite neither party having a presence in the Assembly. On the other hand, there are parties like NDA partner Hindustani Awam Morcha headed by Jitan Ram Manjhi and INDIA bloc constituent CPI, which have four and two MLAs, respectively, but haven't nominated any booth-level agent. Hyderabad MP Asaduddin....
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.... Owaisi's AIMIM, which had won five seats in 2020, and now wants a truck with the RJD which had weaned away four of its MLAs, has also not nominated any BLA, according to the break-up available with the EC. However, former Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal's Aam Aadmi Party, which has declared its wish to contest Bihar assembly polls for the first time, has nominated one BLA. PTI PKD NAC MNB<BR> News - Pr....
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....ess release - PIB....