Electoral Roll Revision in Bihar Risks Mass Disenfranchisement
NILOTPAL Basu, Polit Bureau member of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), has written to the Chief Election Commissioner expressing strong opposition to the "Special Intensive Revision" of electoral rolls currently underway in Bihar. In a letter dated June 27, Basu raised serious concerns about the methodology and timing of the revision, warning that the process may lead to large-scale disenfranchisement and vitiate the pre-election atmosphere in the state.
Referring to the Election Commission’s communication (Letter No. 23/2025-ERS Vol. II dated June 24) to the Chief Electoral Officer of Bihar, Basu argued that while electoral roll revisions are routine, the current exercise imposes disproportionate responsibility on voters for validating their eligibility. Additionally, the timing of the exercise is also a cause for concern, being so close to the actual elections, as the elections to the Bihar Assembly were conducted in October/November at the time of the last elections. The methodology and procedure adopted are objectionable for the following specific reasons:
1. The ECI should have taken at least the recognised political parties into confidence and elicited their views before undertaking such an exercise, rather than convening the meeting to formally inform them of the launch of the programme.
2. Holding such an extensive exercise just a few months before the state goes to polls will vitiate the atmosphere and is fraught with dangers. The time frame for the completion of the entire exercise is just a month.
3. Deletion of names of ineligible voters is the responsibility of the concerned BLOs. The onus of validating one’s own legitimate claim as voter at a given place cannot be imposed upon any ordinary voter, as is being sought to be done of already enrolled voters.
4. If the BLO fails to deliver the Enumeration Form to an existing elector and the said voter is unaware of the process to get the form, his name will be deleted from the electoral roll. Let alone internet connectivity and e-literacy, when even ordinary literacy is lacking, how does the EC expect such voters to download/upload forms.
5. Now the insistence on providing proof of residence for all existing voters will lead to unnecessary harassment of voters, who may not have the requisite documents.
6. The insistence on proof of parents will only complicate matters further.
7. This will result in deletion of the names of many genuine voters who may have migrated temporarily and are not currently available in the state and who would not be in a position to return before the completion of this exercise, even while their names are not listed in any electoral roll elsewhere.
8. This entire exercise is similar to the proposed NRC. There are fears that it may be used to target a certain section of voters leading to their disenfranchisement.
Basu also highlighted that a majority of political parties who attended a June 25 meeting convened by the Bihar CEO opposed the revision and demanded its withdrawal.
The proposed exercise is not only problematic in Bihar, Basu cautioned, but also alarming because the Election Commission has indicated that similar methods will be adopted in upcoming elections in other states.
Calling the exercise "fraught with dangers," he urged the Election Commission of India to immediately abandon the process to protect democratic participation and prevent chaos ahead of elections.
