Jharkhand Congress Seeks 30-Day Extension for SIR Hearings, Submits Memorandum to Chief Electoral Officer

Ranchi: The Jharkhand Pradesh Congress Committee has sought an extension of at least 30 days for hearings under the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, citing administrative hurdles and technical glitches that have delayed the process for thousands of voters.

A Congress delegation led by state in-charge K. Raju and state president Keshav Mahto Kamlesh met the Chief Electoral Officer on Wednesday and submitted a memorandum outlining the party's concerns. The delegation said a large number of voters were yet to complete their hearings despite the ongoing revision exercise.

Citing figures up to October 31, 2026, the memorandum stated that a total of 59,56,574 notices had been issued across the state. Hearings had been completed in 40,25,102 cases, while 19,31,472 cases were still pending. The party also pointed out that 5,06,625 notices had not yet been delivered to voters.

K. Raju said permanent resident certificates were not being issued in several blocks, while people were facing difficulties obtaining caste certificates, family registers and genealogical records. As a result, many eligible voters were unable to submit the required documents within the stipulated period.

The memorandum also highlighted the growing workload on election officials and technical problems with the Booth Level Officer (BLO) app. According to the Congress, in some cases, the online portal was showing hearings as pending even after they had been completed. Some voters were also reportedly receiving fresh notices despite having already undergone the hearing process. The party demanded an early resolution of these discrepancies.

State Congress president Keshav Mahto Kamlesh said major festivals such as Diwali, Bhai Dooj and Chhath affect people's availability and their ability to visit government offices. Completing hearings for all voters within the existing timeframe would therefore be difficult, he argued.

The Congress delegation also demanded that local residence certificates be accepted for SIR after verification, pending certificates be issued promptly, and voters who attend hearings receive confirmation through SMS. It further called for technical issues with the BLO app to be addressed without delay.

The party maintained that the hearing period should be extended by at least 30 days to ensure that no eligible citizen is excluded from the electoral rolls because of documentation or administrative difficulties. It stressed that the revision process must remain fair, transparent and inclusive, describing voting rights as the cornerstone of democracy.

The delegation included Minister Shilpi Neha Tirkey, MLAs Ramchandra Singh and Bhushan Bara, Subodh Kant Sahay, Pradeep Kumar Balmuchu, Banna Gupta, Rakesh Sinha, Satish Paul Munjani, Dr M. Tausif, Sonal Shanti, Jyoti Singh Matharu, Suryakant Shukla, Kamal Thakur and Kedar Paswan, among other leaders.

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