Bihar Voter List Revision: On Friday, August 1, the Election Commission released a new voter list for Bihar as part of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR).
In this new list, over 65 lakh names have been removed. As a result, the total number of registered voters in the state has dropped from around 7.9 crore to 7.24 crore.
District-wise Removals
According to the Commission, the highest number of deletions are from:
Patna – 3.95 lakh
Madhubani – 3.52 lakh
East Champaran – 3.16 lakh
Gopalganj – 3.10 lakh
Before the SIR process began, Bihar had around 7.93 crore registered voters. Since then:
22.34 lakh voters have died
36.28 lakh have moved out of the state or were not found at their address
7.01 lakh were found registered in more than one place
Online Access and Objection Period
The updated voter lists are now available online. Printed copies are also being provided to representatives of political parties in all 38 districts.
The claims and objections phase will continue until September 1, after which the final voter list will be released.
Opposition’s Concerns
In Patna, opposition parties like the Congress and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) have raised concerns about the draft voter list.
They allege that the removal of such a large number of voters could be an attempt to benefit the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in the upcoming state assembly elections.
The Election Commission completed the month-long SIR process ahead of the Bihar assembly polls. Now, voters can check their names on the Election Commission’s website.
Draft Lists Submitted
Officials said that District Magistrates of Supaul, Nawada, Lakhisarai, Darbhanga, Shivhar, Jamui, and Gaya have submitted the draft voter lists of their districts to party representatives.
Court Cases and Political Response
Bihar is set to hold assembly elections later this year. Some petitions have been filed in the Supreme Court against the SIR process.
The court recently said that SIR should lead to mass inclusion, not exclusion.
RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav criticized the move and even threatened to boycott the elections if the issue is not addressed.
