Opposition meeting with Election Commission over special revision of electoral rolls in Bihar deferred

The Election Commission of India on Tuesday (July 1, 2025) said that a meeting scheduled on July 2 with Opposition parties on the contentious Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Bihar has been postponed as the parties did not provide confirmation for the same.

EC sources said that an email had been received by the commission on June 30 from a legal counsel of the Congress, seeking an urgent appointment with the poll body for July 2 regarding the SIR on behalf of many political parties.

The sources said that he [the legal counsel] represented himself as a counsel of a multi-party delegation.

The poll body fixed a time of 5 P.M. on July 2, for the meeting and sought confirmation from these political parties.

Letters to parties

In separate letters sent to parties including the Congress, CPI(M-L), RJD, Trinamool Congress, JMM, SP and other parties of the INDIA bloc, the EC confirmed the time and date and asked for the name of the representative from the party.

However, the Commission has not received any confirmation so far and thus the meeting on July 2 has had to be deferred, the sources said.

Opposition parties led by the Congress have opposed the SIR saying it would lead to disenfranchisement of a large number of people in the State.

Senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh on Sunday (June 29, 2025) said all constituents of the INDIA bloc may knock on the door of the judiciary against the ongoing SIR if the EC does not accept the Opposition parties’ objections about the drive.

“I once again repeat that the drive is an attempt to snatch the voting rights of people of Bihar in big numbers, especially poor, farmers, labourers, socially marginalised and oppressed classes by making them ineligible to vote. It will be a sheer injustice to the majority of the voters of Bihar. This will adversely affect BJP also,” he said.

Mr. Singh accused the NDA government at the Centre of trying to erase the names of poor and marginalised voters from the electoral rolls through the SIR.