Patna, Bihar: With assembly elections expected in Bihar this October, the Election Commission of India (ECI) has launched a Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the state’s electoral rolls — the first such revision in 22 years. The aim, according to the poll body, is to ensure demographic accuracy and remove ineligible voters. But the move has sparked sharp political reactions and concerns over potential voter exclusion.
The EC has clarified that individuals whose names do not appear in the 2003 electoral rolls will now have to submit documentation to remain eligible. The 2003 rolls had approximately 4.96 crore names. Today, the number stands at nearly 7.96 crore.
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That means over 3 crore people, many of them first-time voters, migrants, or previously unregistered, must now provide supporting documents by July 25. Booth-level officers have already begun door-to-door verification using pre-filled enumeration forms.
The draft rolls will be published on August 1, and voters will have until the end of August to file claims and objections before the final roll is published. But critics say the timeline is too tight and the documentation requirements too demanding, especially given ground realities.
Currently, around 73% of Bihar is facing flood threats or is already flooded. With the monsoon in full swing, opposition leaders argue that conducting such a complex exercise under these conditions risks disenfranchising large sections of the population.
Among the 11 acceptable documents listed by the ECI are birth and caste certificates. But according to the Opposition, only 2.5% of the population in Bihar have birth certificates, and only around 20% possess caste certificates, particularly among rural and marginalised communities.
The AIMIM’s Asaduddin Owaisi has called the revision a ‘legally questionable exercise’. The TMC has alleged that the BJP is trying to impose an NRC-like model through the backdoor. And RJD’s Manoj Jha has warned that nearly 37% of Bihar’s population, especially migrants who return home only during festivals, risk being removed from the voter list.
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The EC has defended the move, saying the exercise is essential for ‘demographic integrity’, especially in constituencies where the number of migrants now exceeds past electoral victory margins. But with heavy rains, tight deadlines, and limited documentation among the poor, critics say the focus on cleaning rolls may come at the cost of genuine voter inclusion.
