Bihar SIR: CPI(ML) slams Election Commission claim of foreigners on electoral rolls

Targeting the Election Commission’s (EC) for claiming that a large number of foreigners were found in the voter rolls in Bihar, Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist), or CPI(ML), general secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya has said that such claims are made to “obfuscate the reality and create a lame excuse for the absurd SIR [Special Intensive Revision] exercise”. No such complaint was raised during the 2024 elections and EC, in a reply to Parliament in 2019, had claimed that there was no issue of foreign nationals in the country, he said.

The EC had, on Sunday (July 13, 2025), claimed that booth-level officers (BLOs), during their house-to-house visits for the SIR in the State, had found a large number of people from “Nepal, Bangladesh and Mayanmar”.

“Contrary to the EC’s assurance of BLOs paying three visits to every household and supplying two enumeration forms to every elector, ground reports from Bihar tell us that many households have not had any BLO visit and most electors have no acknowledgement receipt or record regarding the forms submitted,” Mr. Bhattacharya said.

The CPI(ML) leader also alleged that the BLOs who are “conveying the true picture to journalists are being suspended”. He said that at least one BLO has reportedly collapsed under work pressure, and a BDO has even tendered resignation alleging harassment. “We all know that even in 2019, the EC had told Parliament that there was no foreign national issue and only three electors in India were found doubtful. The EC had no answer to the questions asked by the Supreme Court when the hearing on SIR began on 10 July,” Mr. Bhattacharya added. 

The claim that “large numbers” of foreign nationals were found, Mr. Bhattacharya said, is made only to “obfuscate the reality and create a lame excuse for the absurd SIR exercise”. “Unknown source-based stories are being planted to mislead the harassed electorate of Bihar. The SIR exercise is getting murkier with every passing day. Bihar deserves better and will not brook this sinister votebandi (disenfranchisement) drive,” Mr. Bhattacharya said.