New Delhi/Patna : The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Tuesday revealed a staggering 52 lakh discrepancies in Bihar’s electoral rolls as part of its ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) drive. This major update comes ahead of the draft electoral roll publication scheduled for August 1, and just months before the crucial Bihar Assembly elections, reported the Times Now.
In a press statement, the Commission detailed that the revision process has so far identified 18.66 lakh deceased voters, 26.01 lakh electors who have permanently shifted to other places, and 7.50 lakh voters found to be enrolled in multiple constituencies. Additionally, 11,484 electors could not be traced at their registered addresses.
The total number of registered voters in Bihar stood at 7.89 crore as of June 24. According to ECI, 90.67% of the electorate has submitted their Enumeration Forms (EFs), and 97.3% of voters have undergone verification. However, over 21 lakh forms are still pending submission, raising concerns of potential disenfranchisement and data gaps, especially among Bihar’s poor and migrant population.
Nearly one lakh Booth Level Officers (BLOs), supported by four lakh volunteers and 1.5 lakh Booth Level Agents (BLAs) from 12 political parties, have been deployed for a door-to-door verification campaign across the state.
To address discrepancies and errors, the Commission has opened a public window from August 1 to September 1, during which citizens can file objections, request deletions, or make corrections to the draft rolls.
The ECI emphasized that the exercise aims to clean up the voter lists and ensure only eligible electors are properly registered for the upcoming polls.
Meanwhile, the revision drive has come under intense political scrutiny. Over 10 petitions, including one from the NGO Association for Democratic Reforms, have been filed in the Supreme Court challenging the SIR process. Prominent political leaders such as RJD MP Manoj Jha, TMC MP Mahua Moitra, Congress leader K.C. Venugopal, NCP (SP)’s Supriya Sule, CPI’s D. Raja, SP’s Harinder Singh Malik, Shiv Sena (UBT)’s Arvind Sawant, JMM’s Sarfraz Ahmed, and CPI(ML)’s Dipankar Bhattacharya have jointly approached the top court seeking a halt to the verification exercise.
Opposition parties argue that the process, if flawed or rushed, could result in large-scale disenfranchisement, disproportionately affecting economically backward and marginalized communities, many of whom are migrants residing outside Bihar.
The final electoral roll will be crucial in shaping the state’s political landscape, as Bihar heads into a high-stakes election season.
