Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram on Sunday alleged that the Election Commission is trying to change the electoral character and patterns of states, and said that this "abuse of powers" must be fought politically and legally.
The former home minister said the Bihar voter revision exercise is getting curiouser and curiouser.
The SIR exercise comes ahead of Bihar assembly elections, scheduled to be held around October–November this year.
While 65 lakh voters are in the risk of being disenfranchised in Bihar, reports of 'adding' 6.5 lakh persons as voters in Tamil Nadu is alarming and patently illegal, Chidambaram said in a post on X.
"Calling them 'permanently migrated' is an insult to the migrant workers and a gross interference in the right of the electorate of Tamil Nadu to elect a government of its choice," the Rajya Sabha MP said.
Why should the migrant worker not return to Bihar or his/her home state to vote in the State Assembly election, as they usually do, Chidambaram said.
"Does not the migrant worker return to Bihar at the time of the Chhath puja festival?" he asked.
"A person to be enrolled as a voter must have a fixed and permanent legal home. The migrant worker has such a home in Bihar (or another state). How can he/she be enrolled as a voter in Tamil Nadu?" Chidambaram said.
If the migrant worker's family has a permanent home in Bihar and lives in Bihar, how can the migrant worker be considered as "permanently migrated" to Tamil Nadu, he further asked.
"The ECI is abusing its powers and trying to change the electoral character and patterns of States. This abuse of powers must be fought politically and legally," Chidambaram said.
After the Election Commission of India (ECI) announced that 36 lakh voters from Bihar were missing from the electoral rolls, Tamil Nadu politicians expressed concern that they might be included in the state's voter list.
DMK general secretary Duraimurugan told reporters in Vellore, "This is a problem in Tamil Nadu as they came to work here as guest workers. But giving them voter IDs in Tamil Nadu will result in political change in the future."
Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader and Leader of Opposition in Bihar Tejashwi Yadav on Saturday alleged that his name was missing from the “draft electoral rolls”.
The Election Commission, however, refuted the claim and released a copy of the draft electoral rolls showing Yadav’s name, photograph, and details at serial number 416.
Earlier, Rahul Gandhi warned the Election Commission that the opposition would not let them get away with the SIR.
"I want to send a message to the Election Commission: If you think you are going to get away with it, if your officers think they are going to get away with it, you are mistaken. You are not going to get away with it, because we are going to come for you," the leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha said outside Parliament on July 25.
Data released by the Election Commission on Sunday revealed that out of 7.89 crore registered electors as of June 24, 2025, over 7.24 crore submitted their enumeration forms. Of these, 22 lakh were identified as deceased, 36 lakh were either not found or had permanently shifted, and 7 lakh were enrolled at multiple locations.
The EC justified the exercise as a necessary cleanup, citing over 52 lakh untraceable voters, including deceased and duplicate entries.
Opposition parties such as the RJD, Congress, and the INDIA bloc argue that it is a 'voter exclusion drive' aimed at disenfranchising migrants, minorities, and the poor through stringent documentation rules and a tight deadline during the monsoon season.
The opposition has been protesting in both Houses of Parliament against the SIR, alleging the EC's exercise was aimed at "disenfranchising voters" in Bihar ahead of the Assembly elections. They have been demanding a discussion on the issue in both Houses of Parliament.
