THE latest blitz of advertisements by the Election Commission (EC) is a textbook example of hypocrisy. In order to establish that Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral rolls for the upcoming Bihar Assembly polls is inclusive, the text of the advertisement claims that it is inclusive of the political parties. Any electoral reform in this country so far has been jointly pursued by the EC and the political parties. So much so, that the Model Code of Conduct (MCC), is based on consensus across political parties. Despite the fact that MCC does not have a statutory backing, the strength and resilience of the process have insulated the challenges to its enforcement.
In sharp contrast, in the wake of SIR in Bihar, though the national parties had interactions with EC, even a slightest hint about this massive impending exercise was not shared. Therefore, the EC’s public claim could not be further from the truth.
However, what has been revealed in the first phase itself is the dubious objective of the SIR exercise which is extremely disturbing. This is essentially no revision, but a de novo drawing up of the roll. The basic approach of establishing democracy in independent India was anchored in a model of parliamentary democracy based on universal adult franchise. The first election commissioner actualised this through two basic criteria; that voting right had to be universalised and the onus of drawing up the electoral roll was with the EC and not the individual voter. This had to be so, given that Article 326 which provided the direction for the realisation of universal adult franchise made it explicit.
The onus of proving citizenship was never thrust on the voter. A thorough scrutiny of Article 326 makes it abundantly clear that the emphasis was on universality of voting rights and not on citizenship. Revision of electoral rolls is a continuous process which ensures time-to-time updating. Even in 2003 revision which the current ECI accepts as sacrosanct, citizenship proof was not explicitly demanded from voters. ECI archival records and media reports from the time establish this fact. The SIR is a manufactured nomenclature, neither intense nor summary, to pursue the objective of exclusion. SIR places onus of proving citizenship on the voters contrary to the basic tenet followed since the very inception.
According to ECI press release of July 27, a total of 7.24 crore enumeration forms have been collected. Only these names will be listed in the DER, as compared to 7.89 crore names that existed on the state’s voters’ list on June 24, 2025, the day SIR was launched. The ECI claims that the rest are dead (22 lakh), or have permanently shifted or are untraceable (36 lakh) or were enrolled at multiple places (7 lakh) or were “not willing to register as an elector for some reason or the other” (no numbers given). As per the SIR order, these 65 lakh names will not figure on the Draft Electoral Roll (DER).
The numbers are alarming. Bihar’s electorate in 2025 will be smaller than the 7.36 crore electors in the 2020 assembly elections. Going by the past record, this is extremely unusual. It raises many questions. Before one can reach the conclusion that a person has 'permanently migrated' out of a state, should not a thorough enquiry be conducted into each case? How could such an enquiry involving 37 lakh persons be managed to be conducted in a period of 30 days? A study carried out among the migrant workers of Bihar have shown that 90 per cent of them were not even aware of the SIR, let alone submitting the forms.
On the question of huge numbers declared dead, similarly the number could not have been arrived at, after no mention of these in the summary revision in January 2025. Once the entire DER is published AC wise, this will become clearer where patterns indicate wide variations.
In order to evaluate the comparative quality of the roll in Bihar well known psephologist Yogendra Yadav has evolved the Elector to Population (ER) ratio. This became necessary in the wake of CEC’s claim made to the multi-party opposition leaders’ delegation in the beginning of July itself that 20 per cent of names on Bihar rolls were fake and needs to be pruned. Even before the completion of the process, the basis of such conclusion appears to be premeditated and subjective.
The Census-based projections (state-wise, year-wise, age-group-wise) in the Report of the Technical Group on Population Projections (2019), by the National Commission on Population, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, are the best sources for population data. These figures have been used by the Government of India and by the ECI itself as recently as January 2025. The number of eligible electors as stated in the DER divided by the relevant age group would render the ER ratio.
A score of 100 per cent indicates the ideal scenario of a perfect match. It shows that in 2024, the all-India EP Ratio was a healthy 99 per cent, suggesting a shortfall of just 1 per cent. At 97 per cent, Bihar was just below the national average. Thus, its voters’ list was not inflated but slightly deflated. On June 24, on the day of SIR announcement, EP ratio in Bihar stood at 97 per cent, even if further pruning of the roll as indicated by the official statement of EC on the SIR process is not taken into account. This an abrupt and sharp drop in Bihar as compared with the last five elections. Not only this, it will be substantially less than all other states.
The EC had shifted the goalpost midway when it waived the requirement of any of the11 documents before closing of the enumeration with a mere submission of the application in duplicate. However, it is not known whether the EC will produce the copies of the application forms along with explanation for deletions, if asked for.
With widespread media reports about shabby manner in which the process has been carried out so far and without credible proof, the SIR in Bihar in the wake of an abrupt and non-transparent announcement within such a short period will be regarded as fraudulent. Meanwhile, the EC has not announced any single new addition which is nothing short of absurd. Finally, this is obviously an exercise in ‘mass exclusion’ and not ‘mass inclusion’ as the Supreme Court had insisted.
Therefore, forward to the struggle for protecting the ‘right to vote’ in Bihar – a constitutional right. If the EC insists on the SIR in the rest of the country, it will be a nationwide struggle.
(August 5, 2025)
