NEW DELHI: With over 65 lakh voters at risk of exclusion after the first phase of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Bihar, the INDIA bloc on Sunday demanded that the Election Commission of India (ECI) immediately halt the process, citing concerns over data integrity and procedural opacity.
At a joint press conference in Patna, leaders from Congress, RJD, CPI(ML), and CPI(M) launched a strong attack on the poll body, accusing it of conducting the revision exercise based on ‘opacity’ and termed it ‘institutional arrogance’.
They also disputed the ECI’s claim that lists of deceased and relocated voters had been shared with political parties.
In a joint statement, the opposition bloc said, “Our apprehension is turning out to be true. We had warned that this drive would ultimately lead to the exclusion of nearly two crore people. The EC is basing voter deletions on flawed form-based data. The scrutiny is not over; more exclusions are likely in the coming month. We will go to the people on this issue. Even NDA allies are seeing their voters affected.”
Speaking at the press meet Congress Rajya Sabha MP Abhishek Manu Singhvi alleged that the exercise lacks transparency and precision. “The entire exercise reeks of institutional arrogance. There are too many inconsistencies and no clarity. This is not a correction exercise; this is exclusion in the name of verification,” he said.
RJD MP Manoj Jha added, “Opacity has become the hallmark of your functioning. Sixty-three lakh voters are being considered for deletion, and the number may grow. This is disenfranchisement.”
Data released by the Election Commission on Sunday revealed that out of 7.89 crore registered electors as of June 24, 2025, over 7.24 crore submitted their enumeration forms. Of these, 22 lakh were identified as deceased, 36 lakh were either not found or had permanently shifted, and 7 lakh were enrolled at multiple locations.
The ECI, in its key findings, said that discrepancies were identified during the enumeration exercise carried out from June 24 to July 25. The Commission said that the Booth Level Officers (BLOs) did not find these electors or did not get back their enumeration forms because (1) they may have become voters in other states, (2) ceased to exist, not returned their forms on time, or expressed unwillingness to remain registered.
The poll body added that the final status of these electors would be determined after scrutiny by Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) and Assistant EROs by August 1.
The opposition has warned that it will continue to raise the issue publicly if the ECI does not halt the current process and conduct a more transparent and inclusive voter verification exercise.