‘Likely intent behind Bihar voter roll revision is to shrink electorate’ | Capital Beat

As the Election Commission of India (EC) undertakes a Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Bihar, chaos has erupted on the ground. Reports of fake forms, forged signatures, and unverifiable claims about foreign voters have sparked political backlash and raised concerns about mass disenfranchisement. In this sharp Capital Beat conversation, senior journalist Ashok Mishra and election data scientist Dr. Pyarelal Garg dissect the legality, logistics, and politics of the controversial exercise.

How genuine is the Special Intensive Revision exercise? Or is it, as critics say, a farce?

Dr Pyarelal Garg:

The way this exercise is being conducted—with arbitrary justifications and no data transparency—makes it look like a sham. The EC is exceeding its mandate. It has no constitutional authority to determine citizenship. Yet it’s acting unilaterally, pushing unverifiable claims about foreign voters, and carrying out a process that’s fundamentally flawed.

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This isn’t just administrative negligence. It risks disenfranchising Indian citizens by labeling them as “foreigners” without due process. Worse, this is being done using public funds — turning a democratic procedure into an exercise in exclusion. The EC is not merely overreaching; it is dismantling constitutional safeguards in broad daylight.

Who is actually identifying people as ‘foreign voters’—the BLOs or someone else?

Dr Pyarelal Garg:

That’s the troubling part. The EC claims this is based on research, but the sources are unclear. They cite unverifiable projections—birth and death rates, not hard data. Reports point to institutions like SP Jain Institute and Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan providing inputs, but there's no transparency.

Even BLOs on the ground are saying they haven’t encountered foreign voters. If citizenship is to be determined, that’s the Home Ministry’s job, not the EC’s. The commission is using pseudo-academic studies to justify what seems like a predetermined agenda.

Have voters been denied forms or documentation? What are you seeing on the ground in Bihar?

Ashok Mishra:

There’s complete chaos. BLOs are supposed to go door-to-door, but in Patna, many are stationed at polling booths and asking voters to come to them instead. Worse, I’ve seen sanitation workers being given blank forms to distribute—forms without EPIC numbers, and photographs.

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In urban areas, this is confusing enough, but in rural areas, it’s disastrous. Voters don’t know what documents are acceptable. Even after a Supreme Court observation, there’s no uniform instruction. BLOs are uploading forms blindly, and the scrutiny is left to higher officials later.

There’s talk that forms were found being sold as scrap. What does that indicate about the process?

Ashok Mishra:

Yes, in Devgarh, forms were reportedly used to wrap jalebis. A vendor said he bought them as scrap. This shows the utter disregard for the integrity of the process. These are forms containing sensitive voter data, yet they’re being mishandled and discarded.

The EC says 86 per cent of forms have been uploaded—but what has actually been uploaded? In many cases, people submitted Aadhaar and EPIC cards, but the BLOs never verified them. This is mass data uploading without verification. And without clear guidelines, the fate of lakhs—possibly crores—of voters hangs in the balance.

Do you think this confusion is deliberate? What could be the motive behind it?

Ashok Mishra:

The confusion seems orchestrated. Friendly media outlets are spreading narratives—without official data—that lakhs of foreign nationals are on the rolls. But no Election Commission official has come forward with hard numbers or identifications.

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The likely intent is to shrink the electorate selectively. If you reduce the number of voters by a few crores, especially in areas with large marginalised populations, it can skew the electoral outcomes significantly. That could help the ruling party. But this won’t just affect one group—it’ll affect all voters, regardless of party or community.

What options do voters have if they find their names deleted or their citizenship questioned?

Dr Pyarelal Garg:

There’s little clarity from the EC, and the timeline is compressed. The SIR ends by July 25, and the final voter list is due by September 30. But what happens if someone finds out in October that their name was deleted?

Voters can theoretically go to court, but for poor and marginalised groups, that’s not a real option. Realistically, public protest may be the only recourse. Bihar was the birthplace of JP’s movement; history shows people don’t stay silent forever.

Is there a historical precedent for such exercises? Weren’t similar revisions done in the past?

Dr Pyarelal Garg:

Yes, in 2015, the EC launched NERPAP (National Electoral Roll Purification and Authentication Programme). But it was done with clear rules, timelines, and a verification framework. What’s happening now is rushed, opaque, and politically loaded.

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They’re not repeating a routine process—they’re weaponising it. This exercise appears to be an effort to “correct” the voter base under the pretext of data purification, and that makes it extremely dangerous for democratic integrity.

What if this exercise is incomplete by September? Could elections be postponed?

Ashok Mishra:

It’s a possibility. If the government says only 5 out of 7.89 crore voters are verified, it could delay the polls or proceed with a drastically reduced electorate. That could benefit certain parties while disenfranchising millions.

Even long-time voters are unsure if they’re still on the rolls. In Gaya, I met a 70-year-old woman with a BR-coded EPIC card—a sign she’s been voting for decades—yet her name was missing. This level of arbitrary exclusion could spiral into an electoral crisis.

Final thoughts—where do we go from here?

Dr Pyarelal Garg:

We’re watching a democratic institution lose its credibility. If the EC deletes names without due process, it violates Article 326 of the Constitution. Only the legislature has the authority to define eligibility, not the EC.

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If this continues unchecked, we’re heading toward a managed democracy—where who votes, and who doesn’t, is pre-decided. The people of Bihar and India deserve better.

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