By Dr. Gyan Pathak
Election Commission of India (ECI) has turned totally undemocratic. Its order of June 24, 2025 for Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the Electoral Roll of Bihar is autocratic. It does not give enough time to the citizens to get themselves enrolled, but it has been giving more than enough time to the Prime Minister Narendra Modi to campaign in Bihar, both in the Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabha elections held in the last one decade. The ECI has been following rules arbitrarily, and when objected by the Opposition, it informed them that this was a ‘New Commission.’
Let us put the record straight. ECI announced its decision of beginning SIR of Electoral Roll in Bihar and its order on June 24, 2025 with qualifying date of July 1, 2025. The order has put new condition of proving citizenship for those whose name was not in the voter list of 2023, which was the last comprehensive revision of the Electoral Rolls in Bihar. They will require not only their own birth certificates, but also their parents’ birth certificates.
The ECI order has given a submission deadline for enumeration form and required documentation by July 25, that is only one month. It should be noted that Bihar does not have full birth certificate coverage, and even in 2018, the birth certificate coverage was only about 80 per cent for new born. It is therefore expected that about 3 crore voters might not be able to get their name enrolled in the voter list.
The draft electoral roll will be released around August 1, 2025, followed by a claim and objection window until September 1, 2025, that is only one month. The final Revised Electoral Roll will be published on September 30, 2025.
Denying voters enough time, is undemocratic, simply because, it is monsoon season in Bihar, and is the time for sowing Kharif crop. Bihar is still an agrarian state, and the survival of the majority depend on agriculture. Election commissions has just deliberately ignored people’s right to work for their own survival, especially when they can’t entirely depend for their survival on the government. Government does not have complete social security coverage.
The time for working on the land for Bihar people coincides with the time of one month given by the Election commission to them to prove their citizenship. They simply can’t afford to run from pillar to post to get birth certificates not only of their own, but also of their parents.
Another problem is that this is precisely the time when every river and streams will be overflowing and large area of the state would be under flood. People will be struggling for saving their lives from being harmed by the hardships created by flood, water logging, and the attendant food, shelter, and health related issues.
Thus, ECI’s order to expect from them – the farmers, farm labourers, villagers, the hungry, the unsheltered, the flood affected, and the sick people – to furnish the documents within such a short span of time of one month, defies any logic.
To understand this in perspective, one needs to recall how the ECI has been favouring the Prime Minister Narendra Modi by giving enough time for campaign in Bihar elections in the last decade, while the electors are now being denied their right to vote through a stratagem of submitting documents within a month, which they would need to acquire first from the competent authorities. In Bihar, everyone knows how difficult it is to get even a single certificate, what to say about multiple certificates and documents.
The reality on the ground is that people generally need to bribe the officials or their agents for getting documents. Fist problem is that many of the people are so poor that they can’t have extra money to spend on going to the offices several times and bribing. And in India, we know, supplying documents is not the responsibility of the government, which make getting documents difficult. Additionally, going multiple times to offices to get documents, is not possible in this monsoon season, and if they manage to go many of the poor loose their meagre earning for their livelihood.
Against this backdrop, the ECI which is not ready to give more than a month to electors in Bihar, it gave several months to the Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his election campaign by putting long dates and several phases of elections.
Bihar Vidhan Sabha election for 2015 was announced on September 9 in five phases, with last phase polling date November 5. BJP led NDA contested along with LJP, RLSP and HAM. JD(U) was not then part of NDA. Election for 2020 was announced on September 25 to be held in three phases, the last poll date being November 7. BJP and JD(U) were in NDA, along with VIP, HAM, and LJP.
Greater stakes for PM Narendra Modi were in Lok Sabha elections. Lok Sabha election 2019 was announced on March 10, the Bihar elections were held in 7 phases, the last phase poll was held on May 19. BJP, JDU, and LJP had contested as NDA partners.
Lok Sabha election 2024 was announce on March 15 to be held in 7 phases, last phase poll was held on June1, 2024. BJP, JD(U), LJP (RV), HAM, and RLM contested as NDA partner.
One can see what is the difference of the importance of PM Narendra Modi and autocratically ignoring an elector of Bihar with special reference to the time given to them respectively.
The INDIA bloc parties and other opposition parties raised the issue of the SIR, fist with the Election Commission officials in Bihar, and then ECI in New Delhi. On July 2, the leaders of 11 parties, including the Congress, RJD, CPI(M), CPI, CPI(ML) Liberation, NCP-SP and the Samajwadi Party, put forth their objections before Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and other election commissioners to the special scrutiny of the voters’ list.
Congress said that as demonetisation had destroyed the country’s economy, the EC’s defranchising of voters in Bihar will demolish India’s democracy. It said that electors are not given enough time to submit documents, and they would not be able to challenge removal of their names from the electoral rolls as polls would begin by then, and courts do not hear challenges when elections are underway.
Congress spokes person Jairam Ramesh said the ECI unilaterally imposed limits on opposition on meeting them. “Over the last six months, the ECI has conducted itself in a manner that undermines the very basis of our democratic system. The ECI is a constitutional body. It cannot routinely refuse requests for a hearing from the Opposition. It must abide by the principles and provisions of the Constitution,” he said.
Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi pointed out that 2003 revision was held one year before the general elections and two years before the assembly elections. However, this time SIR, with new voter norms requiring documents, gives only one or two months, to the second most populated state in the country. “This disenfranchisement and disempowerment are the worst attack on the basic structure of the Constitution,” he said..Yes, he is right. The ECI is taking away the constitutional right of voting from large sections of poor people and minorities. (IPA Service)
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