new delhi, july 22
Tejashwi Yadav, the Leader of Opposition in the Bihar Assembly, last week alleged that the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the voter list was leading to large-scale disenfranchisement in poll-bound Bihar. The former state deputy CM made the allegations against the Election Commission of India in identical letters written to 35 prominent opposition leaders across the country.
The Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader alleged just months ahead of the Assembly Elections in Bihar that lakhs of voters have been “disempowered and humiliated” in the state for no fault of theirs.
“The farce and tragedy of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) going on in Bihar is shaking the very foundation of democracy through large-scale disenfranchisement. It is a clear indication of how the ‘independent institution’ of the Election Commission of India (ECI) is adamant on eroding public trust in the integrity of our electoral process.
“The ECI has not done itself any favours by announcing and carrying out the exercise in a haphazard and high-handed manner. They have not been transparent. They are making and breaking their rules on the fly. Worse, they are targeting anyone and everyone who is demanding transparency and accountability,” Yadav wrote in the letter addressed to opposition leaders, including Congress national president Mallikarjun Kharge, Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav, among others.
What Tejashwi Yadav alleged:
In the letter, the RJD leader claimed that in its press note dated July 16, 2025, the ECI revealed that around 4.5 per cent of the state population has already been excluded from the voter list in the name of “electors not found at their addresses”.
He further wrote that this is in addition to the 4 per cent who have “probably” deceased or permanently shifted. Yadav put the total number of disenfranchisement between “a whopping 12 per cent to 15 per cent”, citing journalists on the ground and political scientists.
What the RJD leader got wrong:
The Statesman looked at the ECI’s press note dated 16.07.2025 and found Tejashwi Yadav’s claims to be not entirely true. In its release, the ECI said it had received a total of 88.65 per cent of enumeration forms of the total electorate of 7,89,69,844 (as of 24 June 2025). A total of 4.5 per cent electors were not found at their addresses, and 6.85 per cent of enumeration forms remained to be received. These electors have nine more days as of 16 July 2025 to send their forms.
The crucial part of the details lies under the head “electors not found at their addresses”. While the ECI press note said “probably deceased electors so far” (1.59 per cent) and “probably permanently shifted electors so far” (2.2 per cent) were part of the overall figure of 4.5 per cent, Tejashwi Yadav had counted these figures separately. So, the figure, which was 4.5 per cent as per the ECI, was shared as 8.5 per cent by the Bihar opposition leader.
In its press note, the ECI had clearly laid out the figures, and the percentage of electors excluded from the draft electoral roll to be published on August 1 stands at a total of 4.5 per cent only as of 16 July 2025.
The ECI further stressed that it was making efforts to ensure that no eligible elector is left out. “In order to re-verify the electors who have not been found at their addresses even after 3 visits of BLOs, probably deceased or permanently shifted or having enrolled at multiple places, this information will also be shared with District Presidents of political parties/1.5 Lakh Booth Level Agents appointed by them from tomorrow onwards, so that the exact status of such electors can be confirmed by them before 25.07.2025,” the press note dated 16 July stated.
This effectively meant that the 4.5 per cent figure could come down further by the time the revised voter list is released on August 1.
