Mohammad Shafi Questions Credibility of Bihar Electoral Roll Revision

Mohammad Shafi, National Vice President of the Social Democratic Party of India, raises grave concern and deep skepticism over the Election Commission of India’s recent claims on the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of Bihar’s electoral rolls. The ECI’s assertion that documents from 98.2% of electors were collected in just 60 days defies credibility, especially amid widespread reports of procedural lapses, opacity, and systematic voter suppression targeting marginalized communities.

First, the extraordinarily high submission rate of 98.2%—averaging 1.64% per day—raises serious questions about authenticity. Ground reports reveal chaos in enumeration, with Booth Level Officers often skipping visits or pre-filling forms without voter consent, artificially inflating figures to meet deadlines. This “magic compliance” emerges even as Bihar grapples with floods and mass migration, making genuine participation virtually impossible for millions. Further, the ECI’s replacement of searchable PDF draft rolls with non-searchable images obstructs independent verification and fuels suspicion of manipulated data.

Second, the deletion of nearly 65 lakh names—most classified as Absentee, Shifted, or Dead—is glaringly disproportionate and reflects a disturbing bias. Data shows 7 lakh more women removed than men, particularly among younger voters (18–49), with no logical correlation to literacy levels or other factors. The stark gender disparity, especially in the “permanently shifted” category, suggests deliberate targeting of migrant women, effectively disenfranchising them without ensuring re-enrollment elsewhere. Shockingly, many living individuals have been marked “dead” or arbitrarily excluded.

Third, the SIR’s rigid document requirements—initially excluding common IDs such as Aadhaar—put as many as 3.7 crore eligible voters at risk of exclusion due to the state’s weak capacity to provide birth records. Even after the Supreme Court allowed Aadhaar as valid proof, the process continues to operate as an exclusionary tool, disproportionately harming the poor, minorities, and migrants.

These disturbing developments undermine faith in democratic institutions and reek of “vote chori” tactics designed to manipulate outcomes in Bihar’s 2025 elections. The SDPI demands an independent audit of the entire revision process, full transparency in electoral data, and the immediate reinstatement of wrongly deleted voters. We urge the Supreme Court and civil society to intervene decisively to safeguard every citizen’s right to vote. Democracy cannot survive on deception and disenfranchisement.