New Delhi: Documents of 98.2 percent electors have been received for the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise in Bihar, the Election Commission of India announced Sunday.
The SIR began in the poll-bound state from 24 June this year. The enumeration forms were collected from 24 June to 25 July, after which the draft electoral rolls were published on 1 August, excluding 65 lakh voters. The period of submitting claims, objections and documents is currently ongoing, and the last date for this is 1 September.
“From 24 June to 24 August, 2025, i.e. in 60 days, 98.2 percent persons have submitted their documents. This means an average of about 1.64 percent per day. There are still 8 days to go till 1 September with just 1.8 percent electors remaining for submission of the documents. The exercise to collect their documents with the help of BLOs and volunteers is going on,” ECI’s press note said.
Verification of documents is also simultaneously being undertaken by the Electoral Registration Officers and Assistant Electoral Registration Officers, according to the note. The decision on claims and objections, and the verification of documents, is to be completed by 25 September, after which the final electoral rolls are to be published on 30 September.
So far, only 10 claims and objections have been filed by booth level agents of 12 recognised political parties in Bihar, and 1,21,143 claims and objections by electors within their constituency, the ECI stated.
As many as 3,28,847 new electors, who have attained the age of 18 years or will be 18 years old on 1 October, have also submitted forms for being included in the electoral rolls.
The Supreme Court is currently hearing petitions challenging the SIR exercise in Bihar. These have been filed by several petitioners, including Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP Mahua Moitra, Bharat Jodo Abhiyan national convener Yogendra Yadav, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) MP Manoj Jha, and non-profit organisations Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) and People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL).
Following the publication of the draft rolls on 1 August, the Supreme Court had directed the ECI to publish the 65 lakh names deleted from the rolls, on an application filed by ADR.
The court then, on Friday, directed the ECI to allow those excluded from the draft rolls to submit their claim forms online, or physically, along with their Aadhaar cards or any of the 11 documents listed by the commission.
(Edited by Nida Fatima Siddiqui)
Also Read: Rahul’s ‘vote chori’ attack on EC is a political dead-end. He still has a point