Patna, July 17, 2025:
Bihar Opposition leader and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) head Tejashwi Yadav on Thursday accused the Election Commission of conducting a “fraudulent” and politically motivated voter roll revision in Bihar, describing it as a conspiracy to delete legitimate voters’ names.

Speaking just a day after the Election Commission of India (ECI) revealed that over 35 lakh voters were found missing from their registered addresses during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process, Yadav claimed that the concerns raised by the INDIA bloc are now being proven correct.

Opposition Fears Deliberate Disenfranchisement

Addressing reporters in Patna, Tejashwi Yadav said,
“We had warned from the very beginning that this exercise was not about cleaning the rolls, but about deleting specific communities and sections of society from the voter list. Now, after the EC’s admission, the truth is in front of everyone.”

He added that the missing voters were not a result of natural attrition, such as death or relocation, but due to deliberate targeting of voters from particular demographics.

Yadav alleged that names were being fraudulently marked as 'shifted' or 'duplicate' without field verification, and new names were being uploaded in their place, raising serious doubts about the impartiality of the ongoing SIR in Bihar.

EC’s Disclosure: 35 Lakh Voters Untraceable

On Wednesday, the Election Commission stated that more than 35 lakh voters across Bihar were not found at their listed addresses during the recent door-to-door verification as part of the SIR initiative.

The EC has maintained that the exercise is aimed at ensuring clean, accurate, and up-to-date electoral rolls and that the missing voters will be given a chance to respond before final deletion.

However, the lack of clarity on verification protocols, combined with the sheer scale of the deletions, has sparked protests from multiple Opposition parties.

INDIA Bloc Terms the Revision Drive “Suspicious”

Tejashwi Yadav is not alone in voicing concern. The INDIA bloc, a coalition of opposition parties including the Congress, CPI(ML), and others, has also raised red flags, suggesting that voter suppression tactics are being deployed under the garb of administrative diligence.

In a joint statement, bloc leaders said:
“There is clear evidence of disproportionate targeting of voters from certain caste, religious, and minority backgrounds. The EC must ensure transparency and full restoration of deleted names wherever objections are valid.”

Electoral Stakes High in Bihar

The controversy comes at a crucial time for Bihar, where both Assembly and Lok Sabha elections are expected within the next 12 months.

With Bihar’s political landscape tightly contested, even a few lakh votes can swing key constituencies. Analysts say this is why the roll revision process, which is usually routine, has assumed massive political significance this year.

Tejashwi warned that if the issue is not addressed, the INDIA bloc will launch a statewide agitation and may even seek judicial intervention.

RJD Questions EC’s Neutrality

The RJD has demanded that the Election Commission release detailed ward-wise and booth-wise data on voters marked for deletion, along with the field verification reports that justified those decisions.

Party spokesperson Mrityunjay Tiwari stated:
“In a democracy, the voter is supreme. You cannot erase their name from the rolls in such a secretive and arbitrary manner. This is electoral manipulation dressed up as a bureaucratic exercise.”

Ruling NDA Calls Claims ‘Baseless’

In response, the ruling NDA government in Bihar has dismissed Tejashwi’s remarks as fearmongering. BJP leaders claimed that the EC’s revision drive is a statutory exercise conducted uniformly across all states and has no political motive.

“The RJD is trying to create panic because they fear their core vote bank is drifting,” said Bihar BJP vice-president Nikhil Anand. “Let the process conclude. The EC is allowing objections, so no one is being denied their rights.”

Civil Society Also Raises Concerns

Various civil society groups, particularly those working in Dalit, OBC, and Muslim-majority areas, have said their field teams found many genuine voters who were not home during EC visits due to work, migration, or school, but were still marked as ‘unavailable’.

Activist Shabnam Parveen, who works in Gaya, said,
“In rural Bihar, many families migrate seasonally for work. If they’re not home during a random visit, does that justify erasing them from democracy?”

EC Under Pressure to Provide Clarification

While the EC has so far refrained from responding to political accusations, sources say the Commission may soon issue a detailed clarification or hold meetings with party representatives to defuse tensions.

The issue is also expected to come up during the upcoming all-party meeting on electoral preparations, where the Opposition is likely to demand a moratorium on deletions until full verification is conducted.

Conclusion: A Battle Over the Ballot Begins

The sharp exchange between Tejashwi Yadav and the EC is likely only the beginning of a larger political storm in Bihar. With Assembly elections on the horizon, both the ruling alliance and the Opposition know that control over the voter list can determine the final outcome.

If the Election Commission fails to address the rising mistrust around the SIR drive, it risks undermining its credibility and sparking a crisis of electoral legitimacy in one of India’s most politically volatile states.

As it stands, Bihar is staring at a season of agitations, court petitions, and possible public unrest—all centred on the simple question: who gets to vote, and who doesn’t?

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