In a recent submission to the Supreme Court, the Election Commission of India (ECI) disclosed that during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Bihar, requests for the deletion of names far exceeded those seeking inclusion by nearly six times between 22 and 30 August 2025.
This period followed the apex court’s decision on 22 August 2025, which allowed voters to use Aadhaar as a standalone identity document when filing claims or objections under the ongoing revision drive. While this move was expected to ease the process and boost inclusion applications, actual numbers told a different story.
The ECI reported that only 22,723 requests for inclusion were submitted during that week, in contrast to a staggering 1,34,738 objections calling for name deletions from the draft voter list.
Representing the poll body, Senior Advocate Rakesh Dwivedi explained that many of these objections stemmed from voters identifying that their names were duplicated in other constituencies or needed removal due to reasons such as death or relocation.
Following the release of the draft electoral roll on 1 August 2025, approximately 65 lakh voters were removed, reducing Bihar’s voter count from 7.89 crore to 7.24 crore. The ECI noted these removals were largely due to duplication, permanent migration, or death.
Claims Still Open After September 1, Says ECI
During the hearing, petitioners including the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), represented by Senior Advocate Shoaib Alam, and lawyers Prashant Bhushan and Neha Rathi, had sought an extension of the deadline to 15 September 2025, citing ongoing challenges.
However, the Election Commission clarified that while 1 September 2025 marked the formal end of the initial phase, claims and objections will still be accepted beyond this date. Any submissions made after the deadline would be processed post-finalisation of the electoral roll but before the final list is submitted at the time of nominations.
“The process for filing claims, objections, or corrections continues up to the last date for filing nominations. All changes will be reflected in the final roll,” the ECI explained in its note to the bench, led by Justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi.
Political Parties Criticised for Inaction
The ECI also raised concerns over the lack of involvement from most political parties. Apart from the RJD and the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) Liberation – CPI(ML-L), the commission stated that none of the other recognized parties had taken steps to assist excluded voters in filing Form 6, the official request for inclusion.
“Other than RJD and CPI(ML-L), no political party not even through their booth-level agents (BLAs) helped any of the nearly 65 lakh excluded individuals file their claims,” the ECI said, pointing out a major lapse despite having 1.6 lakh BLAs on the ground.
Parties named in the court order include: Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Communist Party of India (Marxist) – CPI(M), Indian National Congress, National People’s Party (NPP), Janata Dal (United) – JD(U), Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) – LJP-RV, Rashtriya Lok Janshakti Party (RLJP), Rashtriya Lok Samta Party (RLSP)
During the claims period, the total forms received from all political parties stood at 128, 103 forms requested deletion and only 25 forms were for inclusion.
In contrast, individual voters were significantly more active, submitting, 33,326 inclusion forms, 2,07,565 deletion forms (Form 7)
Concerned by the apparent disconnect between voters and political parties, Justice Kant observed signs of a “trust deficit.” The bench directed the Chairperson of the Bihar State Legal Services Authority to mobilize paralegal volunteers across all districts. These volunteers are to assist individuals and parties in filing corrections, claims, and objections, and will be required to submit confidential reports to the respective District and Sessions Judges.
The ECI assured the court that 99.5% of the 7.24 crore voters listed in the draft roll had already provided their eligibility documents. The verification process for these submissions is currently underway and is expected to be completed by September 25, 2025, in line with the original SIR order dated June 26.
Additionally, the poll body noted that over 15.3 lakh newly eligible voters had submitted their applications to be added to the electoral roll for the first time.
(With inputs from The Hindu)
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