The Election Commission of India has allowed Bihar voters more time to submit one of the 11 documents required for validation in the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls ahead of the State’s upcoming Assembly election, even while insisting that the SIR was “being implemented smoothly at the ground level”.
The ECI’s announcement sparked confusion, as the Bihar Chief Electoral Officer issued front page advertisements in Patna newspapers on Sunday (July 6, 2025), urging voters to submit filled electoral forms for the SIR even if they do not have the requisite supporting documents, leaving it to the Electoral Registration Officer to process the forms on the basis of local investigation or other documentary evidence.
This prompted Opposition leaders, including Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, to claim that the ECI has backtracked under their pressure, also noting that only 14% of prospective voters have submitted their forms so far, less than 20 days from the deadline.
Bihar Chief Electoral Office made a big announcement in the form of advertisement asserting that voters can get verified in the electoral rolls even without submitting the mandatory documents. Credit: ECI
‘No change in instructions’
In response, the State’s Chief Electoral Officer Vinod Singh Gunjiyal said: “The SIR in Bihar is progressing as per ECI’s order dated 24 June 2025… All measures are being taken to facilitate the existing electors to complete the documentation. These existing voters will have time to submit the documents even after first submitting their Enumeration Forms. All activities are exactly as per ECI’s order dated 24.06.2025.”
Shortly afterwards, ECI “sources” were quoted in another statement shared by the poll body in its WhatsApp group, emphasising that “there is no change in the instructions”. The statement said while the voters were required to “submit their documents anytime before July 25, 2025”, those who failed to do so would get an opportunity “during the claims & objections period also”.
‘BJP backtracks’
On Sunday (July 6, 2025) morning, the Patna newspapers carried an advertisement issued by the ECI, saying, “If you provide the required documents, it will be easier for the Electoral Registration Officer (ERO) to process the application. If you are unable to provide the required documents, the ERO can take a decision on the basis of local investigation or other documentary evidence.”
Quoting the advertisement in a post on X, Mr. Kharge said that “when people rise, BJP backtracks”. He further claimed that “the master plan that the BJP had devised to deprive crores of people in Bihar of their voting rights now seems to be ensnaring the BJP itself.” He credited “pressure from the opposition, the public and civil society” for the ECI’s advertisement, which he interpreted as saying that “now, only a form needs to be filled and showing documents is not necessary.”
“This is part of the BJP’s tactic to mislead and confuse the public. The truth is that the BJP has decided it will crush democracy at all costs. But when faced with public opposition, it cleverly takes a step back,” Mr. Kharge said.
‘Mass disenfranchisement’
CPI (ML) General Secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya said that the ECI’s announcement was prompted by the slow progress of the SIR. “If only 14% filled-in forms have returned after 10 days, the ECI knows that a huge number of voters will be eliminated at the draft stage itself. Hence the ‘deceptive relaxation’ that voters need not submit any documents or even photos at the draft stage.”
He warned that this relaxation only defers the danger of mass disenfranchisement. “If you read the announcement carefully, this relaxation now opens the way for massive discretionary powers with the EROs,” he said. Allowing EROs to decide on the basis of “local investigation” and “other available documents” makes the process “opaque” and “arbitrary”, he added.
‘On the backfoot’
Senior RJD leader and Rajya Sabha MP Manoj K. Jha told The Hindu that the ECI was only trying to make its own work easier by asking voters to fill in the enumeration form even if they do not have the required documents. “This is an admission that the list of documents that they are asking for are not easily available with the majority of the population. They are on the backfoot. And this does not address the real problem,” Mr. Jha said.
On Friday (July 4, 2025), a delegation of INDIA bloc leaders headed by Tejashwi Yadav met Mr. Gunjiyal to raise their objections to the SIR process, demanding that Aadhaar cards, ration cards, and MGNREGA job cards should be added to the list of admissible documents.
As per the data till 7:00 p.m. on Saturday (July 5, 2025), a total of 1,12,01,674 enumeration forms have been collected in Bihar, which is 14.18% of the total number of potential voters. In addition, the total number of counting forms uploaded was 23,90,329, out of which 23,14,602 forms were uploaded through Block Level Officers, while 75,789 forms were uploaded by general voters through online mode.
Published – July 06, 2025 01:11 pm IST