Bihar voter list revision row: What has changed in 1 year after LS polls, Congress asks ECI

Congress on Thursday intensified its attack on the Election Commission of India (ECI) over its recent directive to carry out a Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of Bihar’s voter list within just one month, while also questioning why Aadhaar and other government-issued IDs — such as ration cards or job cards — are not being accepted for verification.

Ahead of the Assembly elections in Bihar, senior Congress leaders here termed the ECI’s step as a “deliberate attempt to delete names of the poor, Dalits, backward communities and migrant workers”.

The party also urged the poll body to clarify why Aadhaar and other government-issued IDs are not being accepted for verification.

At a press briefing held at Indira Bhawan, Congress media and publicity chairman Pawan Khera, Bihar Congress president Rajesh Ram and Congress Bihar in-charge Krishna Allavaru questioned the ECI’s move, while apprehending some ill intent behind the revision process. The trio also said it is humanly impossible to make such a revision within a month’s time.

“How can you verify the names of eight crore voters in just 30 days? Even the Chief Election Commissioner has said that this is the new ECI and the new normal. Is it now up to the CEC to decide who he will or won’t meet?” asked Khera.

“If this continues, the ECI may as well shift its office to the BJP headquarters,” he added.

The row erupted a day after a delegation of the INDIA bloc leaders met the poll panel officials, including CEC Gyanesh Kumar, wherein Congress leader and senior Supreme Court lawyer Abhishek Manu Singhvi said that the CEC did not allow all leaders who visited the ECI’s office to attend the meeting.

Khera also accused CEC Gyanesh Kumar of leaking internal messages to journalists, stating, “This cannot remain hidden anymore. What legacy is the CEC leaving behind, of denying people their fundamental right to vote?”

Congress Bihar chief Rajesh Ram warned that Bihar’s unique socio-geographical challenges — floods in the north, drought in the south, and widespread migration — make a quick revision not only unworkable but discriminatory.

“Three crore people have migrated for work. And what about flood-affected regions? Will you verify them on steamers and boats?” he asked.

“Most of the poor, SC, ST, and OBC communities do not possess birth certificates, only 2.18 per cent do. What about the rest?”

He underscored that Bihar’s electoral machinery is overburdened. “BLOs are handling thousands of voters each. There are huge vacancies in the system. How will this task be completed in such a short time? There is a huge shortage of resources and staff," he said.

Allavaru slammed the move as “Tughlaki” diktat. “In India’s electoral history, has any state ever been asked to furnish proof of eight crore voters who voted just 12 months ago during the Lok Sabha elections? What changed in a year?”

The party also vowed that it won’t allow 20 per cent of Bihar’s population to be stripped of their right to vote.