Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra has moved the Supreme Court challenging Election Commission of India's order on a Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls in Bihar, calling it unconstitutional and warning of mass disenfranchisement.
The petition urges "a stay on the implementation of similar revisions in other states, including West Bengal."
The last Special Intensive Revision of the voter list in Bihar was carried out in 2003. It has been estimated that about 37 per cent of Bihar’s voters, whose names did not feature on the voter list after the last such revision of electoral rolls, would need to submit eligibility proof.
Moitra’s petition contends that the EC's action is contrary to several constitutional provisions like Articles 14 which says equality of right, 19(1)(a) (speech freedom), Article 21 (life right), Article 325, and Article 326 and other important provisions of the Representation of the People Act, 1950 and the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960.
Glare of mass disenfranchisement
Adding to this, TMC leader warned that the revision exercise may lead to mass disenfranchisement of voters who are already registered and have participated in elections multiple times before.
Moitra has also objected to the EC's requirement of citizenship documents for inclusion or retention in the voter roll. Moitra called it "unconstitutional" and not backed by any existing legal framework.
The Trinamool on June 2 had asked the EC to use 2024 as the base year for the special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls set to be held in Bengal ahead of the 2026 Assembly election.
Last week, Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee alleged the Bihar revision was an excuse to replicate the processes in Bengal in a bid to manipulate her state’s mandate next summer.
Both Bihar and Bengal have a large migrant worker population, a section of whom poll officials believe are voting in more than one place. Based on the Bihar experience, the EC is expected to implement the SIR in other states as well.
Bihar’s main opposition party, the RJD, and the Congress on June 4 highlighted a newspaper report to accuse the Modi government of orchestrating a dictatorship in the guise of the special intensive revision of the voters’ list in the state.
The Opposition claims that only 2.5 per cent of the population have birth certificates and only 20 per cent possess caste certificates. They have also questioned the timing of the exercise, with around 73 per cent of Bihar either experiencing floods or facing the risk.
A report in The Indian Express has highlighted how many villagers are distraught because they do not have the papers the EC has mandated as eligibility proof.
On June 24, the EC issued instructions to conduct a special intensive revision of the electoral roll in Bihar, aimed at removing ineligible names and ensuring only eligible citizens are included.
The EC had stated that the revision was necessitated by factors such as rapid urbanisation, frequent migration, newly eligible young voters, non-reporting of deaths, and the inclusion of names of illegal foreign immigrants. The objective, it said, is to maintain the integrity and accuracy of the electoral roll.
Booth-level officers are carrying out the exercise through a house-to-house survey for voter verification.
The EC also assured that the process would strictly follow constitutional and legal provisions, as outlined in Article 326 of the Constitution and Section 16 of the Representation of the People Act, 1950.
EC has also requested the help of political parties in order to avoid making mistakes and thereby to ensure transparency.