PATNA: The Election Commission (EC) on Sunday claimed that the initial phase of Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral roll in election bound Bihar has been completed, with the forms having been made available to all the eligible electors.
Further, the EC asserted that Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Bihar was "being implemented smoothly at the ground level" and "there is no change in instructions".
The EC on June 24 issued instructions to carry out an SIR in Bihar, apparently to weed out ineligible names and ensure only eligible citizens are included in the electoral roll.
In a statement here, the EC made it clear that while voters were required to "submit their documents anytime before July 25, 2025", those who failed to do so would get an opportunity "during the Claims & Objections period also".
The EC also urged people to "beware of statements being made by a few persons, who without reading the SIR order dated 24 June 2025.... are attempting to confuse the public with their incorrect and misleading statements".
According to the EC, the exercise was necessitated by rapid urbanisation, frequent migration, young citizens becoming eligible to vote, non-reporting of deaths, and inclusion of the names of foreign illegal immigrants. The poll panel said that with the exercise, it wants to ensure the integrity and preparation of error-free electoral rolls.
The clarification comes in the wake of several social media posts, including one by AICC president Mallikarjun Kharge, about an EC advertisement published in a newspaper claiming "now only forms are to be filled. There is no need to submit documents".
Alleging that the SIR was a "conspiracy by BJP-RSS to snatch away the voting rights of Dalits and other deprived sections", Kharge had said that the BJP, which ruled the Centre and shared power in Bihar, "is now getting trapped in its own master plan".
Echoing Kharge's post on X, Bihar Congress president Rajesh Kumar alleged at a press conference: "The ad exposes the incompetence of the EC and gives rise to doubts of unethical help extended to the ruling party".
Assembly polls are due in Bihar in a couple of months, and the EC exercise, which seeks to cover nearly eight crore voters by July 25, has become a major bone of contention in the state.
Leader of the opposition in the state assembly, Tejashwi Yadav, has questioned why, unlike the previous revision which took place in 2003 across the country, the current exercise was being carried out only in Bihar.
INDIA bloc leaders have also held parleys with EC officials in New Delhi and Patna to share their anxieties.
However, the BJP-led NDA defended the exercise, accusing the opposition of trying to come up with an "excuse ahead of a certain defeat in elections".
In the backdrop of the controversy arising out of the advertisement, the office of the state Chief Electoral Officer said on Sunday: "SIR in Bihar is progressing as per ECI’s order dated 24 June 2025. As per that order, the draft electoral rolls that will be issued on 1 August 2025 will contain the names of the existing electors whose enumeration forms are received".
"All measures are being taken to facilitate the existing electors to complete the documentation. These existing voters will have time to submit the documents even after first submitting their Enumeration Forms. All activities are exactly as per ECI’s order dated 24.06.2025," said the CEO in another post.
Shortly afterwards, "EC sources" were quoted in another, more strongly worded statement, shared by the poll panel in its WhatsApp group.
The statement said, "SIR in Bihar is being implemented smoothly at the ground level. SIR is being conducted as per instructions dated 24.06.2025 only, and there is no change in the instructions".
The statement issued by the office of Bihar CEO on Sunday said that till date, 1,69,49,208 Enumeration Forms, which is about 21.46 per cent of the total of 7,89,69,844 (nearly 7.90 crore) electors in the state, who were enrolled on June 24, 2025, have been received.
“In the last 24 hours alone, 65,32,663 Enumeration Forms have been collected. There are still 19 days to go for the last date for submission of forms,” the statement read.
The uploading of forms has also been started and nearly 7.25 per cent of the forms have already been uploaded till date.
The partially filled forms were also available for download on EC’s portal (http://voters.eci.gov.in) as well as ECINET App and filled forms can be uploaded by electors themselves on ECINET App.
A total of 77,895 BLOs, were engaged in house-to-house exercise to help electors fill out their Enumeration Forms and collect them. In a large number of cases, the BLOs were also taking live pictures of the electors and uploading them, saving the electors the trouble of getting their pictures clicked.
In addition, 20,603 BLOs were being appointed for the smooth and timely completion of the process. Nearly 4 lakh volunteers, which include government officials, NCC cadets, NSS members among others were working on the field to facilitate the elderly, PwDs, sick and vulnerable people the SIR process.
Besides, 239 EROs covering all the 243 assembly constituencies in the state, 963 AEROs, 38 DEOs and the CEO of the state were at the ground level to facilitate the electors to submit their forms within timeframe, the office of state CEO said.
A total of 1,54,977 Booth Level Agents (BLAs) appointed by various political parties were also providing active support in the SIR process.
Meanwhile, CEO Gyanesh Kumar said that 4,123 EROs, 775 DEOs and 36 CEOs held 5,000 meetings with 28,000 representatives of political parties in the last four months. He said that ECO invited representatives of all recognised political parties to seek their suggestions.
Gyanesh said that the process of holding meeting with representatives of political parties was still underway. However, representatives of some political parties were not satisfied with electoral rolls on one pretext or the other, he added.
(With inputs from PTI)
