Patna, July 27: A sweeping revision of Bihar’s electoral roll has removed 64 lakh names, cutting the state’s voter count from 7.89 crore to 7.23 crore ahead of the Assembly elections due in October-November. While the Election Commission (EC) calls the exercise a necessary reform to remove bogus voters, the move has triggered widespread concern among citizens and fierce criticism from opposition parties.
The month-long Special Intensive Revision (SIR) conducted from June 24 to July 25 identified entries of deceased persons, permanent migrants, duplicates, and untraceable voters. “This is a much-needed reform to clean the rolls,” EC officials said, adding that affected voters will have time to check and correct anomalies before the final list is published.
However, ordinary voters and activists fear genuine names may have been struck off, creating confusion just months before polling. The Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) has taken the matter to the Supreme Court, alleging that enumeration forms were mass uploaded by booth-level officers without voter consent — a claim that has intensified mistrust of the process.
Opposition claims “disenfranchisement”
Leader of the Opposition Tejashwi Yadav has gone on the offensive, calling the SIR a “farce” that undermines democracy. In letters to 35 political parties — including NDA allies Chandrababu Naidu, Chirag Paswan, and Anupriya Patel — Yadav alleged the deletions amounted to “large-scale disenfranchisement” and eroded public trust in elections. He also questioned why Aadhaar was excluded as a valid document in the revision process.
Next steps and legal battle
The EC will release the draft voter list on August 1, giving citizens a month — until September 1 — to verify and correct entries. Meanwhile, the Supreme Court will hear the matter afresh on Monday, with its verdict likely to impact similar clean-up drives planned nationwide.
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