INDIA Leaders ‘Disappointed’ by Meeting With EC Over Bihar Voter Roll Revision

New Delhi: Taking its opposition to the recently announced “special intensive revision” (SIR) of electoral rolls in Bihar a step further, an INDIA bloc delegation on Wednesday (July 2) evening met the Election Commission (EC) – in a meeting that most leaders termed as “disappointing” and “unfriendly”.

The INDIA bloc had opposed the EC's move to begin an SIR months ahead of assembly polls in Bihar. It had raised questions about its timing and the feasibility of such an exercise, which would require the commission to verify as many as 7.75 crore eligible voters in Bihar, while casting doubts about its efficiency.

Some leaders also alleged that the exercise, which puts the onus on people to prove themselves as eligible voters, could lead to “mass disenfranchisement”, especially among the marginalised sections of the population, who may struggle to provide their birth certificates and those of their parents in an underdeveloped state like Bihar.

The EC has stated that usual identity cards like Aadhaar or ration cards will not be sufficient in the SIR, and that people have to produce the birth certificates of even their parents to prove their “places of birth”.

INDIA leaders also pointed out that the exercise may also see the exclusion of a large majority of migrant workers who live outside the state.

Soon after the meeting on Wednesday evening, Congress MP Abhishek Manu Singhvi briefed the press. He said that the delegation pointed out three things to the EC.

One, it questioned the logic behind having an SIR after 2003, after which “four or five” elections have happened in Bihar.

“Were they against the rules?” he asked.

Two, he said that the delegation showed its concern over the hurry with which the EC announced the decision.

Singhvi said: “Why was this decision taken? If there is a need for [an] SIR, then it could have been done in January-February. You have given one month for this. There is one month for the enumeration of 7.75 crore voters.

“Whatever has to be done–any challenges–there are two-three months for that. When you had done it in 2003, after one year, there were general elections. When you did it in 2003, then assembly elections were two years later. You only have one month or so. This is not enough.”

Three, Singvi said that the delegation expressed its worry over the unavailability of birth certificates among many people in rural areas, and asked why Aadhaar or ration cards are not accepted.

“For the first time, you are saying that a person’s name will not be considered if one doesn’t have a birth certificate. In one category, one also needs the parents’ birth certificates if you are born between 1987 and 2012. We said that there are so many [poor people and those from minority and backward communities] in Bihar. Will they keep running around for papers? This is against a level playing field in a democracy,” he said.

Twenty leaders from 11 parties joined the meeting, while no one from the Trinamool Congress was available.

Singhvi also said that the EC did not allow all leaders who visited the commission’s office to attend the meeting. He said that the commission first agreed to meet only party chiefs but upon being pressured it allowed two leaders from each party inside its office.

“Some people had to wait outside. We have complained over this issue, alleging that this is against democracy,” Singhvi said.

The meeting went on for about two hours, in which the leaders reportedly met Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and election commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi.

The delegation included Congress leaders Jairam Ramesh, Abhishek Manu Singhvi, Pawan Khera and the party's Bihar chief Rajesh Ram; Bihar leader Akhilesh Prasad Singh; Rashtriya Janata Dal MP Manoj Kumar Jha; the Samajwadi Party’s Harender Malik; the Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar)’s Fauzia Khan, the Communist Party of India (Marxist)’s John Brittas, the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) Liberation’s Dipankar Bhattacharya, and the Communist Party of India's D. Raja.

Earlier in the day, the EC said that the SIR in Bihar was progressing smoothly “as planned and strictly as per orders issued on 24 June, 2025”, and urged people to ignore “any misinformation being spread”.

It also said that nearly a lakh booth-level officers and one lakh volunteers have been engaged by 243 electoral registration officers, 38 district election officers, nine divisional commissioners and the chief electoral officer of Bihar.

Speaking with ETV after the meeting with INDIA bloc leaders, an EC official said that many leaders of the delegation were allowed to join the meeting “without any prior appointment”, as the commission finally agreed to meet two representatives from every party.

The official said that the SIR conformed with the provisions of Article 326 and the Representation of the People Act, 1950.

However, Ramesh later said in a post on X that “the [EC] has conducted itself in a manner which undermines the very basis of our democratic system”.

“The [EC] is a constitutional body. It cannot routinely refuse requests for a hearing from the opposition. It must abide by the principles and provisions of the constitution. Most importantly, it cannot dictate arbitrary rules for interacting with political parties such as deciding the designation of those attending or the number who can attend or who is or isn’t an authorised person,” he said.

“When the delegation rejected these new rules as arbitrary and confused, the Election Commission informed us this is a ‘New’ Commission. We shudder to think what this 'New' Commission's gameplan is. How many more Master(s)strokes can we expect? After the PM’s ‘notebandi’ [demonetisation] of November 2016 destroyed our economy, ECI’s ‘VOTE-Bandi’ in Bihar and other states as reflected in the SIR will destroy our democracy,” Ramesh further said.

Today, the INDIA delegation met the Election Commission on the subject of the Bihar Special Intensive Revision (“SIR”). The Election Commission was literally compelled to meet the delegation after having refused to do so. A few of us could not meet the ECI, which unilaterally…

— Jairam Ramesh (@Jairam_Ramesh) July 2, 2025

Responding to questions after the meeting, Jha said, “We all have kept the worry of Bihar in front of them … I have handed over to them the letter of RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav. This is a conspiracy to evict people…”

“If the purpose of any exercise is exclusion instead of inclusion, then what can we say … They had no answer when we asked [why] the exercise [the SIR], which had not been done in 22 years … is being done now? … The documents that are important for proving eligibility, most people don't have them…” he added.

Other leaders like Raja, Bhattacharya and Khan also said that the exercise can disenfranchise a number of poor people for no fault of theirs as they may not have their birth certificates or matriculation certificates, which are admissible to prove their birth dates.

Most leaders also felt that the election commissioners were hostile to the concerns that they raised and remained adamantly positive about the SIR exercise.

The Wire is now on WhatsApp. Follow our channel for sharp analysis and opinions on the latest developments.