Congress Alleges Irregularities in Bihar Voter List Revision, Disputes ECI Claims
The Indianโค national Congress has raised โserious concerns regarding the recent Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voter lists in Bihar, alleging significant irregularitiesโ in the deletion of โnames. Party officials claimโ 89 lakh complaints detailing thes issues were submitted toโฃ the Election Commission of India (ECI).
Addressing a press conference at the Bihar Congress state headquarters, All India Congress Committee chairperson of the media and publicity department, Pawanโ Khera, stated the party demands a re-verification ofโ all deleted names. He was joined โby Biharโค Congress president Rajesh Ram, and senior leaders Akhilesh Prasad โขand Shakeel โAhmad.
Khera refuted claims circulating through ECI sources thatโค few โขcomplaints were being โฃreceivedโข from political parties. Heโ detailed that theโ congress’s complaints focusedโค onโ preventing both illegal voters and the inadvertent or deliberate removal of eligible voters from the rolls. โฃ
According to Khera,โฃ the ECI cited four primary reasons for the deletions: 25 lakh votersโข allegedly migrated, 22 lakh were reported โขas deceased, 9.7 โlakh were marked โฃas ‘not found’โ at their registered addresses, and sevenโ lakh โคwere foundโค to be registered in multipleโค locations. โฃHe also pointed to instances of voters being assigned multiple Electorโข Photo Identity Card (EPIC) โฃnumbers.The Congress highlighted concerning patterns within theโข SIR data. Specifically,they noted 20,638 booths experienced the deletion ofโข over 100 names,with 1,988 booths seeing over 200 names removed. Furthermore, the party alleges disproportionate deletion of women voters:โ in 7,613 booths, 70% of deleted names were women, and inโค 635 โbooths, over 75% ofโ those deleted under the ‘migration’ category were women – a statistic Khera found particularly unusual given typical migration patterns. He also stated that in โ7,931 booths,โ 75% of deletions were attributed to reported deaths, with some individuals later appearing at events with Congress leader Rahulโฃ Gandhi.
Khera urged the ECI to conduct door-to-door verification to confirm the status of each deleted โขvoter.
Bihar Congress president Rajesh Ram connected the situation to earlier warnings from Rahul Gandhi and suggested the ECIโข operated with a “pre-conditioned mindset,” noting the deletions โขaligned with the ECI’s initial projection of โขa 20% reduction in voters due to migration. He alsoโค emphasized โthat โคmanyโ affected voters are unaware their names have been removed.
the ECIโ office in Bihar responded with โa press note stating that, as of theโค date of the press conference, no booth-level agents authorized by any district president of the Indian National Congress in Bihar had submitted formal claims (Form 6) or objections (Form 7) regarding names in theโ draftโ electoral rolls published on Augustโ 1st, 2025.
