EC publishes draft electoral rolls for Bihar after SIR amid protest by Oppn
Bihar draft voter rolls mark start of “claims and objections” phase till September 1; voters can report wrongful name deletions to officials for correction.
The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Friday announced that it has released the draft voters' roll for Bihar after the completion of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise.
The poll agency said that the exercise have covered all 243 assembly constituencies and 90,817 polling stations and was shared with political parties.
However, the opposition parties have protested against the exercise and have been demanding a discussion in the Parliament over the issue. The SIR exercise comes ahead of the state assembly elections, scheduled to be held around October–November this year.
“Draft Electoral Rolls for Bihar, covering each of the 243 assembly constituencies and 90,817 polling stations, are being shared with all political parties by the 38 District Collectors at 11 AM today, i.e 1 August 2025,” ANI quoted the Election Commission as saying.
The ECI also said that the draft electoral rolls will be published on the website at 3 pm on Friday.
Opposition parties, including the Congress, Samajwadi Party and others, led by Mallikarjun Kharge, Rahul Gandhi and Akhilesh Yadav, have been protesting since the beginning of the winter session, demanding a discussion on the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of Bihar's electoral rolls being conducted by the Election Commission.
Earlier, Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar said in a message to voters, “The draft electoral rolls of Bihar are being published on Friday, August 1, at https://voters.eci.gov.in/download.”
He added, “Physical as well as digital copies will also be given to all recognised political parties in Bihar in all 38 Districts by all the 38 District Election Officers (DEOs) of Bihar.”
INDIA bloc MPs protest in Parliament premises
On Friday, protesting MPs, including Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, displayed a banner reading "the SIR: war on democracy".
A day earlier, the INDIA bloc parties unanimously resolved to intensify their protests against the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of Bihar's electoral rolls, both within and outside Parliament. The protest coincided with the Election Commission’s scheduled release of the draft electoral rolls on Friday.
Congress Parliamentary Party Chairperson Sonia Gandhi also stood in solidarity with INDIA bloc MPs, joining their protest at Makar Dwar outside Parliament. She held a banner that read "SIR-attack on Democracy" and stood beside her daughter, Wayanad MP Priyanka Gandhi.
A cartoon shared online depicted a man labelled “EC” in uniform and shackled, holding what looked like an Electronic Voting Machine (EVM), with a speech bubble saying “YES SIR.” The tweet was tagged with the hashtag #SIR, hinting at the opposition’s allegation that the Election Commission is operating under the influence of the central government, particularly in the context of developments in Bihar.
EC claims Bihar had 7.93 crore voters before SIR drive began
The publication of the draft electoral rolls also marks the beginning of the “claims and objections” phase, which will run until September 1. During this period, voters who believe their names were wrongly deleted can approach the relevant authorities for redressal.
According to the Election Commission, there were 7.93 crore registered voters in Bihar before the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process began late last month.
However, the revision has sparked criticism and protests from the Opposition, who have raised concerns over possible large-scale deletions of voters.
In the initial stage of the SIR, voters were issued “enumeration forms” by booth-level officers (BLOs) or booth-level agents (BLAs) appointed by political parties. These forms were to be signed and returned along with valid identity documents. Voters also had the option of downloading and submitting the forms online.
