'Votebandi': INDIA Bloc vs Poll Body On Electoral Roll Revision In Bihar

NDTV

5 days ago

New Delhi:
Putting up a united front, a delegation of 11 parties from the opposition INDIA bloc met the Election Commission on Wednesday to share their concerns over the large-scale revision of the electoral rolls in Bihar, but came out more unhappy than they were when they went in.
"After meeting the Election Commission, our concerns have increased further because the Commission did not give a satisfactory reply to any of our questions," CPI(ML) Liberation General Secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya, who went on to call the process 'votebandi', said.
Trouble began when the delegation - which included leaders from the Congress, Rashtriya Janata Dal, CPI(M), CPI, CPI(ML) Liberation, NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar) and Samajwadi Party - reached Nirvachan Sadan, the office of the Election Commission in New Delhi, on Wednesday and were told only two members from each party would be allowed in.
"For the first time, we were given rules to enter the Election Commission (EC). For the first time, we were told only party chiefs can go. Such restrictions mean that necessary dialogue between political parties and the EC can't happen... Today, only two people per party were allowed, which left leaders like Jairam Ramesh, Pawan Khera and Akhilesh Singh standing outside," Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi said.
The delegation then went in and had a three-hour meeting with Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and other election commissioners. The leaders told the Commission that the special intensive revision - a targeted voter verification and list-updating process that includes physical verification of voters, document scrutiny, and deletion of ineligible entries - being conducted so close to the assembly elections in Bihar risked leaving voters out and adding ineligible people to the rolls.
"If the last intensive revision was conducted in 2003 and elections happened a year later, why is this being pushed now, with only 2-3 months left before the polls? You didn't even mention the intensive revision until January, and now suddenly it has been implemented. Why now? We are not against the revision, but it can be done with great care after this election," Mr Singhvi said, pointing out that there are nearly eight crore voters in Bihar, increasing the risk of errors if the exercise is carried out in such a short timeframe.
Criticising the lack of Aadhaar validation using Aadhaar cards, Mr Singhvi said the EC demands Aadhaar for everything else "but not here - why?"
'Exclusion'
RJD leader Manoj Jha expressed deep concern over the documentation criteria laid out by the Commission. "If this exercise leads to exclusion rather than inclusion, what is its purpose?" he asked.
Mr Jha warned that most people do not possess the 11 types of documents required for voters not listed in the 2003 electoral rolls and said, "If the intent is to exclude crores of people, you will see a flood of protests on the streets."
The RJD leader also raised doubts about the Election Commission's intent and transparency, saying the rationale provided to them was not convincing.
'Democracy Under Threat'
Perhaps the sharpest criticism came from CPI(ML) Liberation General Secretary Bhattacharya, who called the Election Commission's explanations "unsatisfactory" and said democracy in the state is under threat.
Mr Bhattacharya said the Commission admitted that 20% of Bihar's voters reside outside the state, which effectively means they could lose their right to vote. "This is nothing less than 'votebandi' for Bihar," he said, comparing the exercise to the demonetisation, or 'notebandi', carried out in 2016.
"There seems to be a failure on our part to convince the Election Commission that one month is not enough for lakhs of voters to submit identification documents. Democracy in Bihar is under threat. A major people's movement is now necessary," he said.
To a question by NDTV about the possibility of going to court to challenge the exercise, Mr Singhvi, who is a senior advocate in the Supreme Court, said the delegation would decide on legal options "at a later stage".
Replying to the same question, Mr Jha said, "This is not the place to say these things. We will decide and inform the media."
Poll Panel Response
In a statement after the meeting, the Election Commission said the special intensive revision (SIR) is being done following the proper provisions and all concerns brought up by the leaders of the parties were addressed.
"The SIR is being conducted in accordance with the provisions of Article 326, Representation of the People Act 1950 and instructions issued on 24.06.2025. The party representatives raised various concerns related to SIR. Each concern which was raised by any member of the political party was fully addressed by the Commission," the poll body said.
On the issue of two members being allowed in, the panel said it was to ensure a plurality of viewpoints.
"Some of the participants were given an appointment and others were allowed to join in without any prior appointment, as the Commission decided to meet two representatives from every party so as to listen to all views... The Commission also thanked all political parties for actively participating in the SIR process so that no eligible voter is left out," the statement said.