'It's Not Final List, Why Such Fuss?' EC Clarifies Amid Bihar Voter Roll Revision Row

Last Updated:July 27, 2025, 22:33 IST

The Election Commission of India criticised opposition parties for misinformation about Bihar's electoral roll revision.

The special revision is part of the ECI’s broader effort to ensure accuracy in the electoral rolls ahead of the elections to be held later this year. File pic/News18

The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Sunday took a veiled dig at opposition parties over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of Bihar’s electoral roll ahead of the assembly elections saying that “some people" are spreading misinformation about the exercise.

The poll body further asserted that the draft electoral roll to be published in Bihar is not the final voters’ list, saying a month’s time will be available to include eligible electors and exclude those ineligible.

The ECI pointed out that as it was mentioned earlier that the first list would be a draft, some people are trying to give an impression that the draft list was the final list, the ECI said in a statement as reported by news agency PTI.

It further said that it is “not able to understand" that when a month-long period from August 1 to September 1 is available to point out wrongful inclusions and exclusions of voters’ names, “why are they creating such a big fuss now?"

It said political parties are free to check with their workers on the actual progress of the process.

“Why not ask their 1.6 lakh BLAs to submit claims and objections from August 1 till September 1?" the ECI quipped, referring to booth level agents, or BLAs. “Why are some people trying to give an impression that the draft list is the final list, which it is not, as per SIR orders."

As the first phase of Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of Bihar’s electoral roll ended on Friday this week, the ECI said that at the end of the month-long first phase, enumeration forms from 7.24 crore or 91.69 per cent voters of the state have been received.

The state, going to the polls later this year, has an electorate of nearly 7.90 crore.

The numbers shared by the ECI showed that at least 65 lakh names will be dropped as they are no longer eligible.

This includes 22 lakh deceased electors, seven lakh electors registered in more than one location, and about 36 lakh electors who have either permanently migrated or could not be traced.

The poll body also said that enumeration forms of approximately 1.2 lakh electors were yet to be received back.

The EC said booth-level officers did not find these electors or get back their enumeration forms because they have either become voters in other states or Union territories, or were not found in existence, or did not submit the forms till July 25. Another reason was that they were not willing to register themselves as voters for some reason or the other.

The poll watchdog said the exact status of these voters will be known after a scrutiny of these forms by August 1.

The poll authority also that 99.8 per cent of Bihar electors have been covered so far and forms of 7.23 crore have been received and digitised on the last day of the phase 1 of the revision on Friday.

The ECI said that the digitisation of forms, along with BLO reports, of the remaining electors will also be completed by August 1.

Opposition To SIR

Various opposition parties in Bihar have claimed that crores of eligible citizens will be disenfranchised during the roll revision for want of documents. They have also claimed that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will benefit from it as the state machinery will target people opposed to the ruling alliance in the state.

Meanwhile, the EC said the first aim of the SIR is to ensure the participation of all electors and political parties.

“Out of 7.89 crore electors as on 24.06.2025, over 7.24 crore electors have submitted their Enumeration Forms indicating overwhelming participation," it said.

The EC said it is making special efforts to ensure that no eligible voter in Bihar is left behind.

(With inputs from PTI)

Shobhit Gupta

Shobhit Gupta is a sub-editor at News18.com and covers India and International news. He is interested in day to day political affairs in India and geopolitics. He earned his BA Journalism (Hons) degree from Ben...Read More

Shobhit Gupta is a sub-editor at News18.com and covers India and International news. He is interested in day to day political affairs in India and geopolitics. He earned his BA Journalism (Hons) degree from Ben...

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