As Bihar gears up for the 2025 Assembly elections, scrutiny has intensified over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral roll. Concerns have been raised regarding the accuracy of the voter list, with reports of deceased individuals included and eligible voters omitted. In a recent development, Tejashwi Yadav, the CM candidate of the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and son of party chief Lalu Prasad Yadav, claimed his name was missing from the draft voter list. He stated he had completed the enumeration form during the special revision. This prompted a response from Janata Dal (United), accusing Yadav of misleading the public. Yadav, addressing a press conference, asserted his name was absent despite his form submission. He also questioned why his information was not found in the system after entering his EPIC number (Elector’s Photo Identification Card). The Patna district administration quickly responded, clarifying that Yadav’s name is indeed registered, though his polling station and serial number have been altered. JDU spokesperson Neeraj Kumar labeled Yadav’s actions a ‘political fraud’. The Election Commission immediately refuted Yadav’s claim, declaring it ‘false and factually incorrect,’ and stated that his name appears in the draft electoral roll. As of yet, Yadav has not responded to the administration’s statement. The ongoing situation is increasing political tension in Bihar. With a limited number of the 7.23 crore applicants having submitted required documents, the draft electoral roll for Bihar was released on Friday. The Special Intensive Revision (SIR) is a process underway to verify the voter list, as Bihar prepares for the upcoming polls. The Chief Electoral Officer of Bihar and 243 Electoral Officers will consider objections to any discrepancies in the electoral roll from August 1st to September 1st, 2025. The ECI issued instructions for the Special Intensive Revision exercise in Bihar on the 24th of last month. The objectives of the exercise were to ensure the inclusion of names of all eligible citizens in the electoral roll in a transparent manner. The last intensive revision for Bihar was conducted by the Commission in the year 2003. Voters can check their details on the ECI website.
