EC launches #ECIFactCheck to counter Opposition’s Bihar SIR claims

The Election Commission (EC) which is facing flak for the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Bihar just ahead of Assembly elections, has launched a social media fact check campaign in a bid to debunk allegations made by several Opposition leaders.

Using the hashtag #ECIFactCheck on its official X handle, EC has countered the claims of at least 10 Opposition leaders including Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge, RJD leaders Tejashwi Yadav and Manoj Jha, TMC’s Sagarika Ghose and political activist Yogendra Yadav.

EC vs Manoj Jha

In a post on July 8, Jha sharing a purported letter sent by EC had said that while the poll body had confirmed a meeting on July 10, it had later withdrawn from it.

Also read: SC to hear pleas against Bihar electoral roll revision on July 10 “Hon. @ECISVEEP ji ….is this not your own letter? When we pointed out the time after noon on July 10, your people, after initially agreeing, are now refusing to meet. I, a humble citizen, request you not to work at the behest of any political party but to fulfill your duty under Section 324. Will you do it?” Jha said in the post.

The EC in its reply said Jha’s post was “misleading” as it did not receive any letter from RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav or his representative Tejashwi Yadav while asserting that Jha was not the authorised representative of the party.

“Claim made is misleading. No response received by RJD president Shri Lalu Yadav or his authorised representative Shri Tejaswi Yadav so far. Shri Manoj Jha has not been authorised by President of RJD to communicate with ECI vide their letter dated April 03,2025,” the EC post said.

SC hearing today

The EC’s fact check campaign comes even as a bench of Supreme Court Justices Sudhanshu Dhulia and Joymalya Bagchi on Thursday (July 10) is scheduled to hear petitions challenging and favouring SIR.

So far, 10 petitions, filed by Opposition parties, NGOs and lawyers, have been listed before the bench for hearing. These include petitions by leaders of the Congress, NCP (Sharad Pawar), Shiv Sena (UBT), Samajwadi Party, JMM, CPI and CPI(ML).

The apex court on Monday agreed to hear on July 10 a batch of petitions challenging the ongoing SIR of the electoral rolls in poll-bound Bihar.

Also read: Electoral roll revision ‘conspiracy’ to steal Bihar polls like Maha: Rahul

Bihar electors enthusiastic about SIR exercise: CEC

Meanwhile, Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar on Wednesday said the electors of Bihar have enthusiastically participated in SIR of the voters' list, asserting that pure electoral rolls are inevitable for strengthening democracy.

Addressing a group of booth-level officers in New Delhi, Kumar said the enthusiastic participation of the voters of Bihar has resulted in the successful collection of more than 57 per cent of the enumeration forms under the ongoing SIR in the state till Wednesday, with 16 days of the exercise still remaining.

"The Election Commission of India was, is and will always be with the electors of India," the CEC said.

Also read: EC defends Bihar voter list revision, calls it inclusive He asserted that "pure" electoral rolls are inevitable for strengthening democracy.

The EC has all along maintained that the revision, being held after 22 years, will cleanse the voters' list of ineligible people and duplicate entries, and include those eligible, in accordance with law, to vote.