At around noon on July 11, businessman Arvind Kumar Jha, 55, was sitting at his two-wheeler accessories shop at the exhibition road in Patna, when he got a call from his home assistant Deepak Kumar, 22, saying the kudawala (municipal sweeper) had given him the electoral enumeration roll form to fill-up. When Mr. Jha came … Read more
CPI-(ML) General Secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya addressing press in Patna on Tuesday, July 15, 2025. | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) general secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya on Tuesday (July 15, 2025) demanded that the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in Bihar be withdrawn immediately and that the Assembly elections this year be conducted on … Read more
Intense drive: A Booth Level Officer checks documents during SIR at Jogbani in Bihar on July 8. | Photo Credit: The Hindu The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Saturday (July 12, 2025) said that it has distributed Enumeration Forms for the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of Voter Rolls in Bihar to almost all electors … Read more
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. File | Photo Credit: ANI Ahead of the State Assembly election, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Sunday (July 13, 2025) promised to provide jobs and employment opportunities to one crore youth in five years (2025-2030). Making the announcement on social media platform X, he claimed that between 2005 and … Read more
A Booth Level Officer (BLO) checks documents during the Special Investigation Revision to electoral roll Drive in Purnia district in Bihar on July 08, 2025. | Photo Credit: Shashi Shekhar Kashyap The BJP on Sunday (July 13, 2025) slammed the Opposition parties for raising questions on the ongoing scrutiny of electoral rolls in Bihar and … Read more
General secretary of CPI(ML) Liberation Dipankar Bhattacharya. | Photo Credit: The Hindu 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 … Read more
RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav holds the INDIA bloc meeting at his official residence in Patna on July 12, 2025. | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement Ahead of the Bihar Assembly election, the INDIA bloc held its latest meeting in Patna on Saturday (July 12, 2025) at the official residence of Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader and … Read more
The Bharatiya Janata Party is trying to hijack the electoral process in the upcoming Bihar Assembly election like it did in Maharashtra, alleged Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, while addressing a public rally in Bhubaneswar on Friday (July 11, 2025). He further said the Election Commission of India (ECI) acted like a “wing of the saffron … Read more
A view of voter awareness e-rickshaws ahead of the 2025 Bihar legislative Assembly Elections, in Patna. File | Photo Credit: ANI Bihar’s Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Vinod Singh Gunjiyal on Saturday (July 12, 2025) appealed to voters of all urban Assembly constituencies in the State to actively participate in the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) … Read more
The Supreme Court on Thursday (July 10, 2025) asked the Election Commission of India (ECI), in the interest of justice, to consider Aadhaar card, Elector’s Photo Identity Card (EPIC), and ration card as proof for voter registration in the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral rolls in Bihar. Also read: Bihar voter list … Read more
It is not yet noon, but the tracks at the Jogbani railway station are shimmering in the heat. Jogbani in Bihar’s Araria district is the last station on the Indian side. The Indo-Nepal border is just a few metres away. Across the railway line, in the cram-jam of run-down semi-urbanisation, the stench from the black … Read more
The Supreme Court’s order on Bihar’s electoral rolls sparks a war of words between BJP national spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia and Congress communication chief Jairam Ramesh. File | Photo Credit: PTI/ANI A war of words ensued between the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress on Friday (July 11, 2025) following the Supreme Court’s order on … Read more
As controversy rages over the few documents considered valid for voter registration during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Bihar, a key figure that has emerged is that of the Electoral Registration Officer (ERO). The discretionary powers being given to these officials of the State government could taint the SIR process, warn … Read more
Many petitions challenging the SIR in Bihar have been filed in the Supreme Court. File | Photo Credit: ANI A Supreme Court Bench of Justices Sudhanshu Dhulia and Joymalya Bagchi is scheduled on July 10 to hear arguments for and against the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral roll under way in poll-bound Bihar … Read more
Congress general secretary (organisation), K.C. Venugopal pointed out that the apex court will hear the case again later this month, while expressing hope that the EC will go with the court’s suggestion. | Photo Credit: SUSHIL KUMAR VERMA The Congress on Thursday (July 10, 2025) said the Supreme Court’s suggestion that the Election Commission (EC) … Read more
The story so far: On July 10, the Supreme Court directed the Election Commission (EC) to consider Aadhaar cards, voter ID cards, and ration cards as acceptable documents for the special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Bihar. It has listed the batch of petitions challenging the EC’s decision for further hearing on July … Read more
Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar is flanked by Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu (left) and Vivek Joshi. Photo: X@ECISVEEP via PTI The Election Commission of India (ECI) ordered a Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral rolls in Bihar, which will be facing Assembly elections in November. Political parties in the Opposition have alleged that … Read more
In recent years, India has experienced a subtle, yet significant, shift in how citizenship and national belonging are defined, and, increasingly, how voting rights are determined. This transformation is most evident in the ongoing electoral roll revision by the Election Commission of India (ECI) in Bihar, just months before the State Assembly elections later this … Read more
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi with CPI (ML) Liberation General Secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya and others addresses supporters during a protest amid ‘Bihar bandh’ called by the INDIA bloc against Special Intensive Revision in the state, in Patna, on July 9, 2025. | Photo Credit: PTI Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, accompanied by Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader … Read more
Union Minister of State for Rural Development Kamlesh Paswan addresses the press at the Patna Secretariat along with Bihar Rural Development Minister Shravan Kumar. | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement The Centre would release funds for the construction of rural roads in Bihar as soon as the State government sent its proposal and carried out a … Read more
Demanding a halt to the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in poll-bound Bihar, INDIA bloc leaders on Monday (July 7, 2025) criticised the Election Commission of India (ECI), and said the poll body was in a confused situation. Addressing a press conference in Patna, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), Congress, Vikassheel Insaan Party (VIP) … Read more
Leader of Opposition in the Bihar Legislative Assembly and RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav addresses a press conference on Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls, in Patna on July 7, 2025. | Photo Credit: ANI Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader and former Deputy Chief Minister of Bihar Tejashwi Yadav on Tuesday (July 8, 2025) accused the … Read more
At least five out of the 11 key documents sought by the Election Commission of India (ECI) for Bihar’s voters’ list revision do not indicate the applicant’s place or date of birth — one of the pre-requisites for inclusion in the electoral rolls. Aadhaar, voter identity cards issued by the Election Commission of India (Electors … Read more
‘The SIR also has features of the ordeal the people of Assam experienced during the National Register of Citizens exercise’ | Photo Credit: AP We are now in the second week since the sudden launch of the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Bihar, on June 24, 2025. By now we all … Read more
RJD leader Manoj Jha. File | Photo Credit: PTI Petitions challenging the decision of the Election Commission of India (ECI) to conduct the special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in poll-bound Bihar are mounting with RJD MP Manoj Jha moving the Supreme Court. Mr. Jha termed the SIR process in the State “ill-timed and … Read more
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi. File. | Photo Credit: SHASHI SHEKHAR KASHYAP With the State Assembly elections just months away, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi will visit Patna on Wednesday (July 9, 2025), to join State-wide bandh called by Opposition parties over the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls,new labour code and deteriorating law and … Read more
Voters show the enumeration forms given by a Booth Level Officer (BLO) during the ongoing Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls in Vaishali district, Bihar. Photo: X/@ECISVEEP via PTI The Supreme Court on Monday (July 7, 2025) agreed to urgently hear on July 10 a batch of petitions challenging the legality of the special intensive … Read more
Voters show enumeration forms given by District Election Officer cum District Officer. Photo: X/@CEOBihar via PTI Even as a pitched legal battle lies ahead for the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise in Bihar, the Supreme Court on Monday (July 7, 2025) drew petitioners’ attention to a judgment which observed that the Constitution does not “exalt” … Read more
Voters show the enumeration forms given by a booth-level officer (BLO) during the ongoing special intensive revision of electoral rolls in Bihar, in Vaishali district. Photo: X@ECISVEEP via PTI The Election Commission (EC) on Saturday (July 5, 2025) said that the special intensive revision (SIR) is underway in full swing in Bihar. Booth-level officers (BLOs), … Read more
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 … Read more