Gustakhi Maaf Haryana-Pawan Kumar Bansal

Gustakhi Maaf Haryana-Pawan Kumar Bansal

For Bihar elections, the opposition — instead of setting their narratives to win — has been drawn into the SIR process orchestrated by the Election Commission. It now appears that all public issues in Bihar have become secondary.

By our enlightened reader Satish Mehra.Have Bihar’s Core Issues Been Buried by SIR? A Possible NDA Strategy

The Bihar Assembly elections are scheduled for the upcoming month of October. Just days before the polls, on June 24, the Election Commission of India ordered a Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in Bihar, drawing the attention of all opposition parties towards this exercise. Now, instead of discussing Bihar’s pressing problems, political parties are almost entirely focused on SIR.

Bihar ranks among the most backward and underdeveloped states in India. For more than two decades, Nitish Kumar has been the Chief Minister. There is a strong anti-incumbency wave against his government, with numerous issues — unemployment, inflation, law and order, education, economic distress, migration, and poverty — affecting the state. Before the SIR announcement, the opposition was actively raising these issues to mobilize public opinion. However, once the SIR process began, all attention shifted solely to it. Nitish Kumar’s 20-year anti-incumbency factor has now taken a back seat.

People across Bihar are now preoccupied with checking whether their names are still on the voter list or have been removed. The Election Commission set a strict timeline for preparing this list — to be completed within one month, by July 26, without significant preparation. Opposition parties have raised multiple concerns about the short timeframe, arguing that the revision is being conducted just as the elections approach.

The opposition suspects that through this SIR process, the Election Commission is conspiring to remove their supporter base from the voter rolls. The process was conducted in haste, with Booth Level Officers (BLOs) uploading whatever forms they received by July 26. Those who submitted forms found their names included in the draft voter list published on August 1. However, the new list shows only 72.4 million voters, compared to 78.9 million in the base list — meaning 6.764 million names were deleted.

According to startling figures released by the Election Commission, the Special Intensive Revision in Bihar led to the removal of 6.76 million names from the electoral rolls. Of these, 3.5 million were recorded as deceased, 2.8 million had permanently migrated from their registered addresses, around 700,000 were found registered in multiple locations, and 1.2 lakh were officially marked as “missing.”

Under the SIR order, voters were required to submit at least one of 11 accepted identity documents, such as a 10th-grade certificate, permanent residence proof, caste certificate, or passport — but notably excluding Aadhaar and ration cards. Opposition parties challenged this with the Election Commission and took the matter to the Supreme Court. The Court suggested Aadhaar and ration cards should also be accepted in the process.

The Election Commission’s directive has created a dangerous precedent for requiring voters to prove their citizenship — something that was never demanded before. Ordinary citizens now face the challenge of proving citizenship. Moreover, even the 11 accepted documents do not fully guarantee proof of citizenship, as some can be forged — with examples like “Mr. Dog” and “Donald Trump” appearing on residence certificates. Ironically, many of these documents are issued based on Aadhaar — the very document excluded from the list.

Excluding Aadhaar and ration cards, therefore, is seen as a betrayal of voters. Now, all opposition parties are questioning the SIR process rather than focusing on the government’s shortcomings or anti-incumbency factors. The matter is still in the Supreme Court, with various organizations also filing cases.

With less than three months to the Bihar elections, the opposition — instead of setting their narratives to win — has been drawn into the SIR process orchestrated by the Election Commission. It now appears that all public issues in Bihar have become secondary.