Congress Alleges That ECI Could Not Tell How Many Non-Citizens Removed From Bihar Electoral Roll

The Congress on Tuesday criticised the Election Commission (EC) over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise in Bihar, alleging that the poll body had failed to provide transparency on the removal of non-citizens from the electoral roll despite making much of the need for the process.

The party said that had the EC disclosed how many non-citizens were actually removed, it "would have been even more exposed than it already is."

Congress general secretary in-charge of communications Jairam Ramesh noted that the Supreme Court hearing on the Bihar SIR exercise resumed on Tuesday and shared on X an analysis of the exercise published in a newspaper.

"This fine analysis shows that the entire SIR exercise bulldozed through by the Election Commission has failed on all three counts of completeness, equity, and accuracy," Ramesh said.

"Much was made of the need of the SIR exercise to remove non-citizens from the electoral roll. The EC has not had the integrity or the courage to enlighten the country on how many such non-citizens in Bihar were removed from the electoral roll," he said.

"If it had done so, it would have been even more exposed than it already is," he added.

The EC’s SIR exercise in Bihar has faced strong criticism from the Opposition, which has accused the poll body of acting at the behest of the ruling BJP — a charge the Commission has denied.

The Election Commission has maintained that it is committed to ensuring that no eligible voter is excluded from the rolls and that no ineligible person remains on them.

The Election Commission of India on Monday announced the schedule for the Bihar Assembly elections, setting the stage for a high-stakes political contest in the state. Voting will be held in two phases on November 6 and 11, with counting of votes scheduled for November 14, 2025.

The term of the current 243-member Bihar Legislative Assembly expires on November 22. Political parties across the spectrum had urged the Election Commission to hold the elections immediately after the Chhath festival, citing that a significant portion of the state’s population returns home during the festivities, ensuring higher voter turnout.

The announcement came following a press conference by the Commission, where new measures and processes for the upcoming polls were detailed. Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, along with Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi, had conducted a series of meetings in Patna over the weekend to review security arrangements, logistics, and enforcement mechanisms to ensure free, fair, and inducement-free elections.

Prashant Kishor, the founder of the Jan Suraaj Party, announced on Monday that he would be contesting in the Bihar elections. The list of his party’s candidates will be declared on October 9.

The final tally of the SIR exercise was released on September 30, and the total number of electors in poll-bound Bihar dropped by nearly 47 lakh—from 7.89 crore to 7.42 crore.

In the draft list released on August 1, the EC had initially removed 65 lakh names citing reasons such as death, migration, and duplication. An additional 3.66 lakh were removed during the claims and objections phase— a period when citizens could contest deletions or seek corrections.

Meanwhile, 21.53 lakh new voters were added during the revision, resulting in a net increase of 17.87 lakh voters compared to the draft roll, bringing the final total to 7.42 crore electors. This number could still change slightly as supplementary lists are published during the ongoing election process.