The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Wednesday responded to the Congress’s allegations over irregularities in Bihar’s Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, according to sources, urging
the party to follow due legal process instead of issuing public statements.
Reacting to the Congress’s claims that nearly 30 lakh voters have been removed from Bihar’s final voter list, poll body sources questioned why no formal appeals or complaints had been submitted through the prescribed channels.
“They should first write to the Electoral Registration Officer (ERO), District Election Officer (DEO) or the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) of Bihar as per law, not just issue press statements,” ECI sources told News18, noting that statutory mechanisms exist for redressal of such grievances.
In an official notice, the Bihar Election Commission claimed that no appeals or objections have been received by any political party in connection with the addition and deletion of names in the electoral roll.
“During the Special Intensive Revision Campaign, 2025 in the state of Bihar, with regard to the addition and deletion of names in the electoral roll by the Electoral Registration Officer in all 243 Assembly Constituencies, no appeals have been received before the District Magistrate under Section 24(A) of the Representation of the People Act up to the date 8.10.2025,” it said.
आवश्यक सूचना
बिहार राज्य में विशेष गहन पुनरीक्षण अभियान, 2025 के दौरान सभी 243 विधानसभा निर्वाचन क्षेत्रों में निर्वाचक निबंधन पदाधिकारी द्वारा निर्वाचक सूची में नाम जोड़ने एवं विलोपन के संबंध में, दिनांक 8.10.2025 तक लोक प्रतिनिधित्व अधिनियम की धारा 24(क) के तहत जिला… pic.twitter.com/bQ8czwaghV
— Chief Electoral Officer, Bihar (@CEOBihar) October 8, 2025
Earlier in the day, the Congress, through its election monitoring cell EAGLE, had raised serious concerns over the integrity of the voter roll revision exercise.
The party claimed that the final list, published last week, shows 7.72 crore registered voters — nearly 30 lakh fewer than during the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
“Who are these 30 lakh people? How many of them voted in the Lok Sabha elections earlier this year?” the Congress asked, alleging large-scale deletions across 15 Assembly constituencies.
The party also flagged what it described as discrepancies in new voter additions.
While the ECI reported that 21.53 lakh new voters were added, the Congress claimed that Form 6 applications accounted for only 16.93 lakh, questioning the process behind the remaining 4.6 lakh additions.
In its statement, the Congress further alleged that the SIR process had deleted 67.3 lakh names and that more than five lakh duplicate entries still exist in the final rolls.
“What was the point of the revision if the list still carries duplicates?” it said, demanding that the Commission publish detailed data of deletions by booth and category.
The statement also reiterated Rahul Gandhi’s past concerns about voter list manipulations, saying, “The Congress party welcomes all efforts to clean voter lists and make them transparent. Answering the above questions will be an important step by the ECI to gain public confidence in the integrity of electoral rolls.”
The ECI, however, maintained that all additions and deletions in Bihar’s voter list have been carried out as per established legal procedures, and any grievances must be raised formally under the Representation of the People Act.
