EC releases list of 65L deleted names in Bihar

The Election Commission (EC) on Monday came out with the names of 65 lakh people who were removed from the draft electoral rolls in Bihar following the special intensive revision (SIR).

The Supreme Court, in an order on August 14, had directed the EC to publish an enumerated, booth-wise list of the voters not included in the draft electoral roll published on August 1.

More than 65 lakh enumeration forms were "not included" in the draft electoral rolls prepared as part of the SIR, bringing down the total number of around 7.9 crore registered voters to 7.24 crore.

Patna accounted for the highest number (3.95 lakh) of "not included" enumeration forms. It was followed by Madhubani (3.52 lakh), East Champaran (3.16 lakh), Gopalganj (3.10 lakh), Samastipur (2.83 lakh), Muzaffarpur (2.82 lakh), Purnia (2.739 lakh), Saran (2.732 lakh), Sitamarhi (2.44 lakh), Katihar (1.84 lakh) and Kishanganj (1.45 lakh), according to the EC.

The EC claimed that 22,34,501 persons were identified as "deceased" during the exercise. Another 36.28 lakh had either "permanently shifted" out of the state or were "not found" at their stated addresses and 7.01 lakh were found enrolled at "more than one place".

When asked about how 22 lakh people die and yet their names figure in the electoral rolls, Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar on Sunday said the number pertained to a period of over 20 years since the previous SIR was conducted in Bihar in 2003.

However, Leader of the Opposition in the Bihar Assembly Tejashwi Yadav slammed the EC over the SIR exercise on Monday. He posted on X, "The current CEC wants to perform better than Anil Masih, who was the presiding officer in the Chandigarh mayoral election. The responsibility of saving the EC's credibility now lies not with the officials but with the public."

Meanwhile, a statement was issued by Bihar CEO Vinod Singh Gunjiyal. He said, "In light of the interim order passed by the Supreme Court on August 14, it is hereby notified that the list of such electors whose names were included in the electoral roll of the year 2025 (before the draft publication) but are not included in the draft roll published on August 1, along with reasons, has been published on the websites of the Chief Electoral Officer, Bihar, and all District Election Officers of the state."

The Chief Electoral Officer of Bihar said the ASD (absentee, shifted and dead) lists had been displayed at polling booths in Rohtas, Begusarai, Arwal, Siwan, Bhojpur, Jehanabad, Lakhisarai, Banka, Darbhanga, Purnea and other places.