The INDIA bloc on Wednesday strongly opposed the Election Commission’s decision to carry out a Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral rolls in Bihar, warning that the move could disenfranchise tens of lakhs of genuine voters — particularly among marginalised groups — ahead of the upcoming assembly elections.
In a joint representation submitted at Nirvachan Sadan, senior leaders from 11 parties — including the Congress, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), Communist Party of India (Marxist), Communist Party of India, CPI(ML)-Liberation, Nationalist Congress Party (Sharad Pawar faction), and the Samajwadi Party — met Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and other top officials to raise concerns over the SIR.
“The methodology, timeline, and process prescribed for the SIR is guaranteed to ensure a disastrous result that will result in the deletion of tens of lakhs of genuine voters, especially those at the margins of society,” the opposition parties said in their representation.
They criticised the Election Commission (EC) for introducing what they termed as “complex and burdensome rules” requiring voters to produce their own and their parents’ birth certificates, based on their year of birth.
Describing the requirement as “arbitrary, inconsistent, and an unfair burden,” the opposition argued that this could exclude many from the state’s nearly 8.1 crore eligible voters in 2025.
The bloc also questioned the rationale behind the EC’s policy to exempt only those individuals whose names were present on the electoral rolls in 2003 from the re-enrolment process. “The classification lacks clarity and legal justification,” the parties stated.
Calling the entire exercise “a misleading and questionable measure masquerading as a corrective step,” the INDIA bloc said the move could result in targeted disenfranchisement.
“It effectively hands over control to lakhs of state and central government officials, who will now determine who has valid documents and who does not, and ultimately who can and cannot vote in Bihar. This opens the door to the deliberate exclusion of voters through the misuse of administrative authority,” the opposition alleged.
Speaking to reporters after the meeting, senior Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi said the process could result in a minimum of two crore voters being disenfranchised.
“Many — especially among the Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, migratory and impoverished — may not be able to present their and their parents’ birth certificates to the poll authorities within such a short period,” Singhvi said. He was joined by RJD MP Manoj Jha.
Singhvi also flagged the lack of legal recourse available to voters once the election process begins. “They would not be able to challenge the removal of their names from the electoral rolls as polls would begin by then, and courts do not hear such matters during the election process,” he said.
He further questioned the necessity of the revision exercise. “We asked the EC that the last revision was done in 2003, and since then, 4–5 elections have taken place. Were all those elections faulty, imperfect or unreliable? The SIR is being carried out just one year before the general elections and two years ahead of the assembly elections,” Singhvi added.
Follow us
