Row over electoral roll revision: CEC says exercise will ensure all eligible citizens are included

Amid a row over the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls in Bihar, Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar on Thursday (July 3, 2025) said the exercise will ensure that all eligible people are included in the voters’ list.

He also said the revision being undertaken after a gap of 22 years is running as per schedule with the active participation of all political parties.

The CEC came out in defence of the intensive revision as several Opposition parties claimed that the ongoing exercise will deprive many people of their constitutional right to vote.

Addressing a group of booth-level officers here, Mr. Kumar said the implementation of Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in Bihar is running as per schedule with the active participation of all election staff and all political parties in a transparent manner.

“Despite apprehensions of some persons, SIR will ensure that all eligible people are included,” the CEC said.

On Wednesday (July 2, 2025), leaders of several INDIA bloc parties met the Election Commission over the Special Intensive Revision and raised concerns over its timing, alleging that over two crore voters of Bihar may be disenfranchised by this mammoth exercise being done just ahead of assembly elections.

The EC will carry out an intensive review of electoral rolls this year in six states beginning with Bihar to weed out foreign illegal migrants by checking their place of birth.

Bihar is going to polls later this year while the Assembly polls in five States— Assam, Kerala, Puducherry, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal— are scheduled in 2026.

The move, which would be later expanded to other states, assumes significance in the wake of a crackdown in various states on illegal foreign migrants, including from Bangladesh and Myanmar.