The Election Commission is conducting a Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the voter list in Bihar, a move that has sparked significant political debate. Rahul Gandhi and Tejashwi Yadav are actively protesting against the SIR through voter rights campaigns. As part of this process, the Election Commission has issued notices to approximately 300,000 people who have migrated to Bihar from Bangladesh and Nepal. The commission will remove them from the voter list if their responses are deemed unsatisfactory.
The SIR aims to purify the voter rolls before upcoming elections. The notices were sent to voters whose documents contained discrepancies. Kishanganj, a border district, accounts for a majority of the cases.
There are concerns regarding the presence of Indian voter ID cards among citizens of Bangladesh and Nepal. Residents from areas near the Nepal border reported that the requirement of 11 specific documents is difficult to meet due to cross-border familial relationships. Many of the individuals’ parents are from Nepal, and in some cases, the fathers are deceased.
Some residents have appealed for citizenship. Others have claimed to have submitted all required documents to the BLO. An individual whose father came from Bangladesh, but who was born in India, is worried about losing their voting rights and had to work outside the district.
Akhilesh Yadav criticized the SIR, interpreting it as an effort to undermine the election process. He worried that this initiative may result in further disenfranchisement. He also questioned the government’s response to economic hardships.