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The ECI dubbed the Kharge’s claim as “misleading” and said that there were no change in the instructions of SIR that is being carried out in Bihar ahead of the assembly elections.
Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge | File Image/PTI
The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Monday fact-checked Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge over Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voters’ list in Bihar, who had claimed that the poll body has amended the process of voter verification from asking for documents to only filling a form without any documents citing a newspaper advertisement.
The ECI dubbed the Kharge’s claim as “misleading” and said that there were no change in the instructions of SIR that is being carried out in the state ahead of the assembly elections.
“The claim made in this post, that no document is required and only filling the form is sufficient, is misleading. There is no change in the instructions. SIR is being conducted as per the orders dated 24.06.2025. While submitting the filled enumeration form before 25th July 2025 is mandatory, the documents can be submitted at any time either before 25th July 2025 or during the claims and objections period,” the ECI said in a post on X.
Meanwhile, the Election Commission’s decision to initiate a Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of Bihar’s electoral roll in the run-up to the assembly elections later this year has triggered major political controversy. The opposition parties have been alleging that the BJP is trying to snatch voting rights from crores of people in Bihar.
On Sunday, the Congress President accused the BJP of conspiring to deprive the people of Bihar of their voter rights through the revision of electoral rolls and said the voters of the state would teach the saffron party a lesson for its attack on democracy and the Constitution.
He cited a new advertisement issued by the Election Commission (EC), urging the voters of Bihar to only fill a form under the SIR, and alleged that “when people rise, BJP backtracks”.
“With the support of the Election Commission, the master plan that the BJP had devised to deprive crores of people in Bihar of their voting rights now seems to be ensnaring the BJP itself,” Kharge alleged in a post in Hindi on X.
भाजपा ने चुनाव आयोग के सहयोग से, बिहार में करोड़ों लोगों का वोटिंग का अधिकार छीनने का जो मास्टर प्लॉन बनाया था, उसमें अब भाजपा खुद फँसती नज़र आ रही है।पहले दिन से ही, कांग्रेस पार्टी Special Intensive Revision of Electoral Rolls (SIR) के ख़िलाफ़ आवाज़ उठा रही है।
जो लोग… pic.twitter.com/wtfbEDZWOx
— Mallikarjun Kharge (@kharge) July 6, 2025
“Why are people who have been voting election after election being asked to show their documents for voting? “Forcibly depriving the poor, weak, deprived, Dalits, oppressed and backward people of their voting rights is the conspiracy of the BJP-RSS,” he alleged.
The Congress chief claimed that nearly eight crore people will suffer because of the SIR.
“The responsibility to correct the voter list lies with the EC, not the public.
“When the pressure from the opposition, the public and civil society increased, the Election Commission hurriedly published these advertisements today, which state that now only a form needs to be filled and showing documents is not necessary,” he claimed.
“This is part of the BJP’s tactic to mislead and confuse the public. The truth is that the BJP has decided it will crush democracy at all costs. But when faced with public opposition, it cleverly takes a step back,” the leader of opposition in the Rajya Sabha alleged.
Meanwhile, the ECI has explained the need for the SIR across India as its constitutional mandate to protect the integrity of electoral rolls. It decided to begin with Bihar since it is the first state where the next assembly election will be held later this year.
It said that the SIR is being implemented smoothly at the ground level with the active cooperation of the electors.
The EC added that all voters are directly made aware through more than 77,000 BLOs and 4 Lakh volunteers as well as 1.5 lakh BLAs appointed by all political parties.
“In accordance with Article 326, the orders of SIR dated 24 June 2025 clearly enable all eligible electors to be included while excluding ineligible electors after verification by the concerned ERO,” the EC said.
Shobhit Gupta is a sub-editor at News18.com and covers India and International news. He is interested in day to day political affairs in India and geopolitics. He earned his BA Journalism (Hons) degree from Ben…Read More
Shobhit Gupta is a sub-editor at News18.com and covers India and International news. He is interested in day to day political affairs in India and geopolitics. He earned his BA Journalism (Hons) degree from Ben… Read More
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