EC's SIR in Bihar should serve as a template for other states

Indian Express

5 days ago

As the special drive launched in Bihar by the Election Commission of India to rid the electoral rolls of all errors enters its fourth week, some positives are already visible. The booth-level officers (BLOs), who have fanned out across the state to distribute and collect the enumeration forms, while moving around from one house to another in the areas covered by their respective booths, have found that 1.59 per cent of voters had died in the intervening period. This translates to a whopping 12.5 lakh electors. Another 2.2 per cent, whose names appeared on the voter list, had migrated to other states. This amounts to 17.5 lakh voters in a state with a total voter base of 7.90 crore. As many as 5.5 lakh voters, or 0.73 per cent, had their names appearing at two places in the electoral roll.
The voters of Bihar, it is clear, have given their thumbs-up to the drive, and delivered a snub to the parties that have been trying to create doubts about the ECI's decision to go in for a 'Special Intensive Revision (SIR)'' of the electoral roll. This could be deduced from the fact that the BLOs had, till July 15, succeeded in disbursing enumeration forms to 88.18 per cent of the voters. Of these, 83.66 per cent had submitted their filled-up forms to the BLOs. By the time the first phase of the SIR draws to a close, it is estimated that almost all bona fide citizens of the state will have been covered.
It follows that the names of people who fail to provide any citizenship proof will have to be deleted from the electoral roll. As reported widely in the media, the Election Commission, during the course of its drive to collect filled-up enumeration forms, stumbled upon several illegal migrants from Bangladesh, Nepal and Myanmar. They had, over a period of time, somehow found their way into the voter list, despite the fact that they had failed to submit any citizenship proof.
Former Bihar BJP president Sanjay Jaiswal, the party's chief whip in the Lok Sabha, while speaking to newspersons in Patna on July 9, laid threadbare the conspiracy launched by the Opposition parties to shore up their fortunes in the districts close to Bangladesh by demanding the inclusion of Aadhaar as proof of citizenship. 'In Kishanganj district, the number of Aadhaar cards in circulation is an impossible 105 per cent. In neighbouring Araria, the figure is marginally lower at 103 per cent. It is clear that a whole lot of illegal Rohingyas and Bangladeshis have succeeded in laying their hands on Aadhaar cards,'' he pointed out.
He also alleged that since June 25, when the SIR was rolled out in Bihar, there had been a scramble among the people of Kishanganj to procure proofs of residence. 'As many as 2.27 lakh people had filled up forms for address proofs. This amounts to 27 per cent of the district's population. How is this possible? It is evident that the people behind this are Rohingyas and Bangladeshis, who want to smuggle their way into the voter list,'' the BJP leader said.
The election watchdog needs to be lauded for deciding to go in for electoral roll revision in the state on such a massive scale. Its success should serve as a template for similar campaigns in other states.
In embarking on the SIR, the ECI is working strictly according to the mandate bestowed upon it by Article 324 of the Constitution of India and Section 21 of the Representation of the People Act, 1950, along with other provisions of the latter. In keeping with this, it asked the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO)/District Election Officer to aid the ERO to fulfil the Constitutional mandate that 'every eligible person, as per Article 326 of the Constitution of India, read with Section 16 and 19 of the RPA, 1950, is enrolled as an elector'.
The circular issued by the ECI on June 24, 2025, clearly mentioned that 'while carrying out the SIR of the electoral rolls, the ERO (Electoral Registration Officer) of each Assembly constituency shall be responsible for ensuring that no eligible citizen is left out, while no ineligible person is included in the electoral roll'.
This is not the first time that the ECI is undertaking such an exercise. It has done so several times in the past, across the country, or in individual states. In Bihar, the revision of electoral rolls on such a massive scale took place way back in 2003, when the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) was at the helm in the state. The BJP and the NDA, in keeping with their resolve to play the role of a constructive Opposition, had offered full support to the SIR.
Contrast this with the conduct of the Opposition parties in the state now. In an attempt to whip up popular frenzy and communal tension, the RJD-Congress-Left combine organised a bandh across the state on July 10. Senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi put in a token appearance during the protest march in Patna, held a day before the Supreme Court's hearing on a clutch of petitions against the SIR. The bandh failed to elicit any response in the state. The Opposition's attempts to erect roadblocks in the path of the SIR received a further setback when the Supreme Court declined to put a stay on the electoral roll revision.
The SIR has built-in checks. The draft electoral roll will be unveiled on August 1. Individuals, civil society organisations and political parties will then get a full month's time to submit their objections.
When it comes to matters of national security and interest, the Opposition parties should shun their narrow and parochial agendas and rise to the occasion. They have clearly failed the people of India.
The writer is Member of Legislative Council in Bihar, and prabhari of Mizoram BJP