Jul 12, 2025, 07:30 PM IST
Ahead of the Bihar elections, the Election Commission has launched a Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, sparking a major political controversy and legal battles in the Supreme Court. In this video, we break down everything you need to know about the electoral roll revision, why it’s happening, and the debates surrounding it. What is an electoral roll? It’s the official list of registered voters recognized by the Election Commission (EC) for assembly and general elections, as mandated by Article 324 of the Indian Constitution.
The current SIR aims to eliminate duplicate entries and update voter details, starting with Bihar and eventually covering the entire country. With Bihar’s voter count jumping from 49 million in 2003 (the last SIR) to 79 million today, the EC is conducting door-to-door verification and requiring additional details from voters registered post-2003.But here’s where it gets contentious: the EC accepts caste certificates, family registers, and land allotment certificates for the revision but excludes Aadhaar, citing its disclaimer as not proof of citizenship. Yet, Aadhaar is mandatory for new voter registrations under Form 6 of the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960, creating a glaring contradiction.
Opposition parties, including leaders like Tejashwi Yadav and Asaduddin Owaisi, have slammed the move, arguing that Aadhaar is the primary identity document for most citizens and questioning the EC’s motives, with some calling the exercise an “NRC in disguise. ”The revision also raises concerns about migrant workers’ voting rights. The Representation of the People Act allows “ordinarily resident” citizens to vote in their current constituency, but provisions for those “temporarily absent” add complexity, especially for migrants who maintain ties to their native regions. The opposition claims this could disenfranchise many. With the final electoral roll set to be published on September 30, 2025, and similar exercises planned for states like West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, and Kerala, this issue is far from over. The EC defends the SIR, noting it addresses long-standing demands for cleaner voter lists. Watch the video to dive deeper into the politics, contradictions, and implications of this critical electoral process!
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