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Bihar's Voter List Controversy: ECI's Claims Spark Political Tensions
Gyanhigyan english | August 28, 2025 3:39 AM CST

Election Commission's Statement on Voter Objections

Patna: On Wednesday, the Election Commission of India (ECI) reported that, aside from the CPI-ML, no other political factions have officially raised concerns regarding the draft voters' list released under the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in Bihar.


Apurva Kumar Singh, the Assistant Director of the Election Commission of Bihar, stated that the CPI-ML has submitted 53 claims and objections, all of which are currently being processed.


The ECI also provided statistics on voter corrections since the draft list was made public on August 1, 2025.


As of August 27, a total of 178,948 voters had filed claims and objections, with 20,702 already resolved.


Additionally, approximately 635,124 individuals submitted Form-6 applications to add their names to the electoral rolls, with 27,825 of these requests processed.


CPI-ML MLA Mahanand Singh from the Arwal Assembly constituency confirmed that he has filed three objections and noted that many voters are now approaching Booth Level Officers (BLOs) following a Supreme Court order to restore names that were removed from the electoral rolls.


Singh remarked, “A significant number of votes were deleted in my constituency. Initially, people were reluctant, but they are now coming forward, and we are providing assistance.”


In contrast, the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) has vehemently disputed the ECI's assertions.


Chitranjan Gagan, co-convener of the party’s Election Cell, claimed that over 500 complaints have been lodged by the RJD, which have not been acknowledged.


Gagan expressed confusion over the ECI's statement that no other party besides CPI-ML has filed objections, stating, “Initially, they did not even accept our complaints. It was only after the Supreme Court mandated the Commission to disclose details of 6.5 million deleted names that they began to take us seriously.”


He further accused BLOs of frequently refusing to provide receipts for complaints.


Gagan added, “We have raised this issue multiple times. The Election Commission appears to be under pressure from BJP leadership, which is why they are dismissing our objections.”



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