‘2–3 crore at risk of disenfranchisement’: India bloc slams EC’s Bihar voter roll drive

In a high-stakes face-off with the Election Commission, the India bloc has warned that the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral rolls in Bihar could strip as many as 2 to 3 crore voters of their franchise—most of them from the state’s poorest and most vulnerable sections.

A ten-party delegation from the Opposition alliance met Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi in New Delhi, expressing deep concern over the sudden and sweeping revision, which they say has been launched without adequate time or planning ahead of the crucial Assembly elections.

Speaking to reporters after the meeting, senior Congress leader and Rajya Sabha MP Abhishek Manu Singhvi asked: “Are we to assume that all elections since the last voter roll revision in 2003 were invalid? Why this urgency now, with barely weeks to go for elections, and in a state with nearly 8 crore voters?”

Singhvi accused the EC of risking the “disenfranchisement and disempowerment” of millions by demanding cumbersome documents, including birth certificates of parents for those not listed in the 2003 rolls.

“We are talking about flood-hit, backward, Dalit, tribal, and migrant communities—many of whom do not even have documents of their own, let alone their parents’. This is a direct assault on universal adult suffrage,” he said, calling the move “the worst attack on the Constitution’s basic structure.”

The EC’s push for verifying voter eligibility using birth certificates instead of long-accepted proofs like Aadhaar and ration cards, Singhvi said, “creates a non-level playing field that can distort democracy.”

“Votebandi”: echoes of demonetization

The delegation, comprising leaders from Congress, RJD, CPI, CPI(M), DMK, SP, and others, alleged that the EC is unfairly targeting the state's poor, migrants, and minorities through a bureaucratic maze that amounts to a backdoor voter purge.

CPI(ML) Liberation’s Dipankar Bhattacharya called the revision process a “citizenship test” disguised as electoral verification.

“People are calling it votebandi. It’s eerily reminiscent of notebandi (demonetization) — sudden, unexplained, and disproportionately hurting the marginalized,” he said.

RJD MP Manoj Jha described the meeting with the EC as “far from cordial” and claimed that 20 percent of Bihar’s population—mostly migrants—were effectively being declared ineligible by the EC’s interpretation of “ordinary residence.”

“These are people who don't even have a suitcase to keep documents. Now they must chase down certificates of their father or mother to prove they belong here?” Jha asked. “If the EC doesn’t read the writing on the wall, there will be a flood on the streets.”

EC unmoved, cites procedural legitimacy

Despite the fervent opposition, the EC defended the SIR exercise as being in line with Article 326 of the Constitution and the Representation of People Act, 1950. An official said all parties’ concerns were addressed and thanked them for appointing over 1.5 lakh booth-level agents for the revision effort.

The Commission, however, limited party representation in the meeting to two delegates per party, leading Singhvi to accuse the EC of stifling democratic engagement:

“This arbitrary restriction blocks vital conversations. We were even told only party presidents should attend.”

The Commission also cited past complaints about electoral rolls in Maharashtra to justify the current revision in Bihar, a reasoning the Opposition dismissed as flawed.

“You can’t use our earlier complaints to silence us now. Do the revision after elections with caution and time — not weeks before a vote,” Singhvi said.

Notably, the Trinamool Congress was absent from the meeting, although its leaders had previously raised similar concerns and suggested using 2024 as the base year for voter roll revisions.

At stake: electoral integrity or voter suppression?

The INDIA bloc warned that if the EC goes ahead with the current plan, it risks undermining the very foundation of Indian democracy.

“Even deleting or adding one name wrongly skews the system,” Singhvi said. “Disenfranchising crores just before an election? That’s not reform. That’s sabotage.”