With opposition parties voicing concern on the special intensive revision of electoral rolls in poll-bound Bihar, Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar said that almost every political party had complained about the voters' list being inaccurate and stressed it was necessary to update it before elections under the law.
The Congress and other INDIA bloc parties have questioned the intent and the timing of the revision of the voters' list, claiming that the exercise carries the risk of willful exclusion of voters using the state machinery.
Gyanesh Kumar, who was replying to queries from reporters in Firozabad, rejected allegations of overlooking concerns of the opposition, asserting that the poll panel maintains regular dialogue with political parties and 5,000 such meetings have been held in the past four months, beginning from the assembly level.
The poll panel also issued a clarification after the office of the Bihar Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) published an advertisement in local newspapers earlier in the day informing electors that they can submit their enumeration forms now and provide the required documents later.
The advertisement, published in Hindi, carried the CEO’s “appeal” to electors: “Fill and submit your enumeration forms with documents and your photograph to BLOs as early as possible.” The second point read: “Yadi avyashak dastavez tatha photo uplabdh nahi ho to sirf ganana prapatra bhar kar BLO ko uplabdh karaa de.[If you do not have requisite documents, then provide the enumeration forms to the BLOs).”
Earlier, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge cited the advertisement to question the voter verification drive. The Bihar CEO clarified that the timeline of the voter list verification drive had not changed and that it was progressing as per the June 24 order.
In its clarificationth, EC said, “It is reiterated that SIR is being conducted as per the SIR instructions dated 24.06.2025 and there is no change in the instructions. As per instructions, draft electoral rolls that will be issued on 1 August 2025 will contain the names of persons whose enumeration forms are received. The electors can submit their documents any time before July 25, 2025. After publication of draft Electoral Rolls, if any document is deficient, EROs (Electoral Registration Officers) can obtain such documents, from the electors whose name appears in the draft Electoral Rolls, during scrutiny in the Claims and Objection period.”
The CEC, who was attending a private programme, was asked about RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav raising questions on the voters' list revision.
"Under the Representation of People Act, it is necessary to update the voter list before every election. In Bihar, on 1 January 2003, a thorough revision of the voter list was done. At that time, the eligibility of the people whose names appeared in the voter list was checked....Such a thorough examination was not done in Bihar after 1 January 2003.... the Election Commission had decided that it would continuously coordinate with the political parties. In this sequence, almost every political party complained about the voter list being incorrect and every time they said that the voter list should be rectified. Therefore, this time in Bihar, just like in 2002, within a month between July and August, the enumeration forms will be distributed and taken back," he said.
The CEC said the exercise is going on very smoothly and all political parties are cooperating in this. "More than one lakh booth-level officers are engaged. More than 1.5 lakh booth-level agents have been nominated by political parties and all are doing this work honestly and hard," he said.
The CEC said the exercise will be conducted in a transparent manner and "every eligible citizen will be a part" of the voters' list. Kumar also stressed that people whose names were on the voters' list as on January 1, 2003, don't have to submit documents of birth for themselves or for their children when they are enrolled as voters.
"Like in Bihar, whoever is in the voter list of 01.01.2003 will be considered eligible from the primary point of view under Article 326 of the Constitution. In other words, the people whose names are in that list need not submit any document, and when voter IDs are to be made for their children, they too will not need to give any document for their parents," the CEC told reporters.
He added that as far as the time frame is concerned, when the voter list of Bihar underwent an intensive revision in 2002, it was from July 15 to August 14, a total of 31 days.
This time also the revision is being held from June 24 to July 25, which is 31 days, he said.
The Election Commission had on June 28 said that the special intensive revision of electoral rolls in Bihar has begun and stressed that all citizens, political parties and the Election Commission of India follow the Constitution."
Bihar is going to the polls this year, while assembly polls in Assam, Kerala, Puducherry, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal are scheduled in 2026.
(With PTI inputs)
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