Bihar Special Intensive Revision 2025: ECI’s Bold Move to Ensure Free & Fair Elections -

With the Bihar Assembly elections looming in October–November 2025, the Election Commission of India (ECI) has launched its first Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in the state since 2003. This large‑scale, ground‑level exercise aims to cleanse the voter list by including only those genuinely entitled to vote and removing ineligible names such as duplicates, deceased individuals, migrants, or non-citizens.

Historical Context and Legal Framework

The SIR is being executed under Section 21 of the Representation of the People Act, 1950, and the Electors Rules of 1960. Historic “intensive” revisions of electoral rolls have occurred in India several times since 1952, with Bihar last undergoing this in 2003 over two decades ago.

Timeline & Process

Launch date: June 24–28, 2025, with qualifying date set at July 1, 2025.
Door‑to‑door survey: June 25 – July 26 – BLOs distributed and collected pre-filled enumeration forms; the draft list is due by August 1 .
Claims & objections: August 1 – September 1.
Final roll: Expected by September 30.

Through this structured timeline, the ECI intends to complete the entire process well in advance of the election, ensuring ample time to address disputes.

Implementation Mechanism

Over 77,800 Booth Level Officers (BLOs) deployed, with 20,600 new appointees for new booths.
Political parties have appointed 154,977 Booth Level Agents (BLAs) to oversee the accuracy at their polling stations.
More than 100,000 volunteers including Anganwadi workers, youth groups, and NGOs—are assisting elderly, sick, and disabled voters.
Data is being uploaded on the ECINET portal, and GIS‑tagged verification (photos/GPS) ensures transparency.
A maximum of 1,200 voters per booth policy has been enforced to reduce travel time, limit overcrowding, and improve accessibility.

Strict Documentation Requirements

To curb bogus entries, the ECI has mandated substantial proof:

Voters on the 2003 roll need only self‑verify, as their names are already accepted.
New voters or registrants post‑2003 must produce:
- Proof of birth for themselves (if born before July 1, 1987).
- Proof of date/place of birth of at least one parent (if born 1987–2004).
- Documents for both parents (if born after December 2, 2004).

Acceptable documents include birth certificates, Aadhaar, EPIC, or school records.

Objectives & Justifications

According to the ECI, the SIR is meant to:

Clean up stale or problematic entries, including unreported deaths and migrated voters.
Exclude unauthorized foreign nationals.
Ensure that only eligible citizens participate upholding the constitutional mandate under Article 326.
Enhance accessibility by rationalizing polling booth distribution.

The EC emphasizes transparency and involvement of all political stakeholders.

Political Backlash & Concerns

The opposition especially Congress, RJD, CPI‑ML, JMM, Mamata Banerjee’s TMC and others have strongly criticized the SIR:

Digvijaya Singh argued that timing the exercise during the monsoon with just 30 days is “impractical” and could disenfranchise marginalized groups, especially migratory workers .
Supriyo Bhattacharya (JMM) warned that the requirement to “prove origins” has echoes of NRC, risking exclusion of the poor and mistreatment of document complexities.
Congress and TMC have described the move as “devious”, “dangerous for democracy” and unnecessarily burdensome, potentially disenfranchising youth, farmers, and migrant workers.

Concerns center on whether the poor, migrants, and those without formal documentation can comply in time .

ECI’s Rebuttal & Counter‑Measures

In response to the backlash, the ECI has:

Emphasized involvement of BLAs and parties to resolve discrepancies early.
Highlighted volunteer outreach and SMS alerts targeting over 57 million voters to encourage compliance .
Asserted that the documentation rules are rooted in constitutional duties, not in political motives.
Reaffirmed full transparency via ECINET, GPS tracking, and photographic evidence, with legal appeal formulations in place.

What Lies Ahead

As the July 26 deadline approaches, key questions remain:

Inclusion rate: Will a large number of eligible voters fail to submit forms on time?
Political friction: Will opposition seek legal interventions or mass protests?
Replication by other states: After Bihar, similar SIR processes are planned in Kerala, West Bengal, Assam, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry ahead of their elections.

Conclusion

The SIR in Bihar represents a comprehensive attempt to modernize and audit electoral integrity through technology, stake‑holder engagement, and strict documentation. However, its compressed timeline and procedural rigor have triggered fierce political objection, citing risks to democratic inclusion.

The coming weeks will test whether the ECI’s ambitious outreach and dispute resolution strategies can ensure genuine voters aren’t sidelined and whether opponents succeed in turning the process into a constitutional flashpoint.

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