A Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of Bihar’s electoral roll was launched on June 24, 2025. The Election Commission has decided to revise the Assembly election rolls. A nine-member team was sent to Bihar to monitor the campaign, headed by Senior Deputy Election Commissioner Manish Garg. According to reports, the voting percentage has remained stagnant during elections in the state. In the last Lok Sabha election, 56.28 percent voting took place. Over the past 10 years, the voting percentage has remained around 56–57 percent in both Lok Sabha and Assembly elections, while the national average is 66.10 percent.
To address the voting gap, a meeting was held on Thursday with the Chief Electoral Officer, Vinod Singh Gunjiyal. The last intensive revision in Bihar was done in 2003. After 22 years, the ECI sent a 19-page letter to the Chief Electoral Officer of Bihar, which consisted of a three-page order for the SIR and detailed guidelines for the exercise.
Deputy Election Commissioner Sanjay Kumar provided the information to the state’s election officials. An app, ECINET, was launched, featuring a “Book a Call with BLO” option through which voters can directly contact their BLO and resolve their complaints.
Furthermore, the decision to amend the voter list before the Assembly elections has been challenged in the Supreme Court by the non-government organisation, Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR). The association demanded the cancellation of the Election Commission’s new guidelines, which require citizenship certificates from lakhs of voters in Bihar. They have called this decision a violation of several fundamental rights in the PIL filed under Article 32.
Chitranjan Gagan, spokesperson of the Rashtriya Janata Dal, stated in the report, “The SIR is a conspiracy to deprive Dalits, backward classes, extremely backward classes, and minorities of their right to vote. There are lakhs of families that do not have the documents listed for the SIR. They will be off the electoral roll.”
Around 2.94 crore voters will have to submit one of the 11 valid documents. Those who fail to do so will have their names erased from the voter list. The 4.96 crore voters included in the 2003 revision have been exempted. People born on or after July 1, 1987, have to submit their documents. People born between July 1, 1987, and December 2, 2004, have to submit their papers along with one of their parents’. Meanwhile, people born after December 2, 2004, must submit their documents and both of their parents’ documents.
The Hindu released the statement of Jagdeep S. Chhokar, founding member and trustee of the Association for Democratic Reforms: “The ECI has listed 11 documents in its SIR guidelines. One of them is the birth certificate, and the other ten also perform the same function as the birth certificate. In Bihar, a large number of people do not have any of these documents. Interestingly, Aadhaar is not included in the list, while many people have it.”
The documents that are valid for the election include: a birth certificate, a passport, a matriculation/educational certificate, a residence certificate, forest rights certificate, caste certificate, an NRC record (if applicable), a family register, a land/house allotment certificate, a government job/pension ID, and government documents issued before July 1, 1987. People in Bihar might face immense difficulties in casting their votes under the new guidelines of the ECI. According to reports, in many villages, people are scrambling to get the documents demanded by the Election Commission. Assembly elections are to be held in the state within a few months.
Among the challenges faced by voters: only 20.47 lakh people in Bihar — less than 2% — have government jobs, according to the National Family Health Survey, Indian Human Development Survey, and the 2022 caste survey. Only 2.8 percent of people have birth certificates, and 2.4 percent have passports. Many have questioned why the Aadhaar card has not been recognised. The answer lies in the fact that it is not a valid proof of citizenship. An Aadhaar card is merely proof of identity. Similarly, PAN cards, ration cards, MNREGA cards, and driving licences are also not included, as they are not valid proofs of citizenship.
According to Dr. D.N. Diwakar, Senior Economist and former Director of Bihar’s AN Sinha Institute, the revision in 2003 took two years, and the census was also conducted over two years. He questioned the possibility of this being completed in just one month before the assembly election. He added, “Rejecting Aadhaar cards is a new problem.”
There has also been concern regarding what happens if voters in the state do not have the documents demanded by the ECI. In such cases, they must fill out and submit a form. The names of such voters will be included in the draft voter list, which will be published on August 1. The period for claims and objections is from August 1 to September 1. Documents can be submitted until August 30 during this period. If still unable to do so, an investigation will be done upon the voter’s request, and the documents will be verified by the BLO. However, Bihar’s Chief Electoral Officer, Vinod Singh, stated on Saturday that the form must be filled and submitted by July 26. Every voter included in the voter list must fill out the enumeration form. Afterwards, the verification of the information will be done and, if correct, the name of the voter will be included in the final voter list, which will be published on September 30.
There will be two modes provided for form submission: online and offline. In the former, one must download the form from the portal voters.eci.gov.in, fill it out, and upload it. In the latter, one must take the form from the BLO, fill it, and submit it to them.
Bihar’s former DGP, Abhayanand, stated, “The decision of the Election Commission of India is wrong. The Home Ministry of India has the right to decide citizenship. A citizen of India is eligible to be a voter. In such a situation, the Election Commission of India should explain who gave them the right to decide citizenship. India became independent in 1947. So where did the cut-off dates of 1987 and 2004 come from? In our understanding, the voter list is a running list. Aadhaar should also be recognised.”
Meanwhile, the ECI announced the completion of the initial phase of Bihar’s electoral roll revision. According to reports, the CEC highlighted extensive groundwork as the Election Commission refuted the claims of disenfranchising voters made by the opposition. ECI reported that data had been collected for 21.46% of Bihar’s total 7.90 crore enrolled electors. Furthermore, 7.25% of forms have already been uploaded on ECINET.
Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar stated to news agency ANI, “During the past four months, all 4,123 EROs, all 775 DEOs, and all 36 CEOs have held nearly 5,000 meetings with 28,000 political party representatives. The ECI has also invited all recognised political parties for interaction. No one was satisfied with the current status of electoral rolls for one reason or the other.”
The ECI further claimed that they have 77,895 Booth Level Officers going door to door to help voters fill out and submit their forms. Responding to the rumours, the ECI clarified that the process followed proper procedures while assisting the public and warned voters against misleading statements circulating online. They assured that the electoral rolls will be error-free.
BLOs engaged in the intensive revision will receive an additional honorarium of ₹6,000. Leading in the collection of filled forms is Vaishali district with 1.76 lakh forms, followed by Patna with 1.61 lakh forms. East Champaran is in third place, Nalanda fourth, and Samastipur fifth. Lakhisarai is last. Voters in Patna have uploaded the most forms online, with the number reaching 8,348. In many cases, BLOs are taking live photographs and videos of voters and uploading them, saving voters the trouble of getting their pictures clicked. An additional 20,603 BLOs are being appointed to complete the work on time. Around 4 lakh volunteers, including government officials, NCC cadets, and NSS members, are working to assist elderly, disabled, sick, and infirm individuals during the SIR process.
To challenge the Special Intensive Revision in Bihar, RJD and Trinamool Congress have also approached the Supreme Court. The Bihar Assembly Election 2025 is scheduled for November, and the Election Commission’s decision to clean and update the electoral roll of 8 crore voters has stirred a nationwide uproar. Opposition parties fear that it might lead to the disenfranchisement of many voters. Reports from the ground also point toward the difficulties voters are facing in proving their eligibility through documents. About 74.5 lakh voters have migrated to other states in search of employment, livelihood, education, etc. How feasible is it for all these people to prove their eligibility in just 30 days? These are serious concerns raised by various political parties and voters in Bihar.
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