‘Surge in demand for domicile certificates suggests presence of many immigrants': Bihar Dy CM

Indian Express

3 days ago

With the publication of the first draft of the electoral rolls after the Election Commission's Special Intensive Revision (SIR) drive just a week away, Bihar Deputy Chief Minister and senior BJP leader Samrat Choudhary addresses the concerns over it, particularly regarding Bihar residents working outside the state, and says special attention should be paid to Kishanganj district. Excerpts from an interview:
* Questions have been raised about the timing of the SIR, just months to go for the polls, with the Block Development Officers (BDOs) deployed for the exercise struggling to cover everyone.
The EC is doing the SIR with the 2003 voters' list as the starting point. It is going well across the state minus the Purnia division, especially Kishanganj district. While records show that between January and June 2025, Kishanganj had averaged 26,000 to 28,000 applications a month, in July so far (after the SIR kicked in), about 3.41 lakh domicile applications have been filed.
* What do you think the numbers suggest?
The surge in demand for residential certificates suggests that many of the applicants are immigrants from other countries. We suspect a sizeable percentage of the people in Kishanganj (a Muslim-dominated district) could be from Bangladesh, Nepal and Bhutan. Central and state governments and the EC should scrutinise and find out if illegal immigrants have been living in India stealthily.
Within the Purnia division too, while Purnia district has seen a rise in average monthly domicile applications from 43,970 (earlier) to 98,200 (in July 1-13), in Katihar, this has gone up from 38,271 on an average to 1.32 lakh, and in Araria, from 27,710 domicile certificates in June to 53,556 applications till July 13.
(The Indian Express reported earlier that in the wake of the SIR, the demand for a domicile certificate had generally seen a surge, with a big reason being that applicants could get this using Aadhaar, a commonly available document.)
* There are apprehensions that a large number of Bihar residents working outside the state may not manage to enroll for the SIR?
It is true that a large number of people live outside the state and all of them can't return to the state to fill up their enumeration forms. But in many of these cases, voters have names in the Bihar electoral rolls, as well as elsewhere. The EC is looking at this duplication. It may be verified by Aaadhar cards and voters could be given the option of remaining voters in Bihar or in another state.
* Some estimates suggest that 10-15% of those living outside Bihar could be left out.
The EC is going through its rules and procedures. There will be claims and objections, followed by appeals.
* Isn't it ironic that, just a few months ago, BJP leaders were preparing lists of state residents living outside Bihar to convince them to come back home and cast their votes?
Our team met not just Bihar voters but also people who are the state's ambassadors in several fields. Some of these people will still come back for us, whether to vote or to just speak about our good works.
* A very small percentage of the deposited enumeration forms are being uploaded with any of the 11 documents that the EC has sought. Does this not leave Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) with too much power to decide which forms to accept?
These are questions that are too technical. An ERO has the right to seek to be convinced after a voter has been issued notice for removal from electoral rolls. But the legal nitty-gritty of such questions can be explained better by the EC.
* Many BJP leaders are equally concerned about the fallout of the SIR confusion.
We are comfortable. We have 52,000 BLAs (Booth Level Agents) and will add 10,000 more to their numbers in some time. Our BLAs are coordinating with BLOs as part of the process.