Opposition leaders question the timing and intent of the mass voter deletions, warning of electoral manipulation ahead of crucial polls.
By Navin Upadhyay
July 20, 2025
As controversy deepens over the deletion of more than 41 lakh names so far from the electoral rolls in Bihar under the Election Commission’s ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR), opposition parties, civil rights groups, and constitutional experts are raising alarm over the potentially seismic implications of these changes—particularly their impact on Muslims and Dalits.
Though the EC has refrained from releasing religion- or caste-wise data of those flagged for deletion, evidence emerging from the ground, as well as the demographics of affected districts, suggest that the exercise could have a disproportionate effect on the political agency of these two communities. In Bihar, where electoral outcomes often swing on the margins, the deletion of even a few thousand voters from select communities could prove decisive in dozens of constituencies.
Several districts flagged for high volumes of deletions—Kishanganj, Araria, Katihar, Purnia, Gaya, and East and West Champaran—are home to a significant concentration of Muslim and Scheduled Caste populations. In Kishanganj, for instance, Muslims comprise over 65% of the population and have historically played a determining role in electing representatives. If voter deletion disproportionately affects these areas, critics warn, the results could alter the outcome in key assembly segments and even Lok Sabha seats.
“In a first-past-the-post system like ours, elections are often won by margins of a few thousand votes. If 10,000 to 20,000 Muslims or Dalits are disenfranchised in a single seat, that’s enough to flip the result,” said political analyst and psephologist Rakesh Ranjan. “This isn’t just administrative tinkering—this is electoral engineering.”
The stakes are particularly high because of the political inclinations of the affected communities. While the Muslim vote in Bihar has largely consolidated behind the RJD-led alliance in recent elections, Dalits remain a more fragmented bloc.
Dalits, who make up nearly 16% of Bihar’s population, are emerging as a pivotal voting bloc in the state’s shifting political landscape. But their growing political assertiveness may now be met with a quiet threat — disenfranchisement.
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Traditionally, Dalit sub-groups like Paswans and Dusadhs have leaned toward the Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) or the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). However, recent surveys suggest this alignment is under strain. Nitish Kumar’s repeated shifts in alliances have left many voters in these communities disillusioned. At the same time, the most socioeconomically deprived among Dalits — such as Musahars and Chamars — have been courted by the RJD and Left parties. Ironically, they are also the most vulnerable to voter roll deletions due to poor documentation, low literacy levels, and systemic neglect.
BIGGEST EXPOSE !! 💥
Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in Bihar is a massive voter list fraud by ECI – Yogendra Yadav, renowned Psephologist.
SIR = Scam In Review !! 😇 pic.twitter.com/Z4resH8HTQ
— Priya Purohit (@Priyaa_Purohit) July 20, 2025
Civil society surveys conducted in districts such as Gaya, Jehanabad, Nawada, and Rohtas — all with significant Dalit populations — reveal a wave of anger among these voters. Unemployment, soaring inflation, and what many see as a betrayal by Nitish Kumar’s government have stirred discontent. In such a context, any large-scale deletion of Dalit names from the electoral rolls would carry serious implications. It would not only be a bureaucratic failure but could also result in the artificial suppression of anti-incumbent votes.
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This growing concern adds urgency to demands for transparency. If names are being dropped from the rolls, especially in regions where Dalits hold the balance of electoral power, it raises the specter of voter suppression — not just through negligence, but possibly through design.
CPI‑ML general secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya says, “The entire exercise was a conspiracy to remove Dalit, Muslim and poor migrant voters and it could disproportionately affect marginalized sections.
The issue gained further traction after revelations that the Bihar Police Special Branch had submitted intelligence reports to the Election Commission identifying so-called “suspicious” voters. Critics allege that these intelligence inputs were used to draw up deletion lists—raising serious concerns about caste and religious profiling. According to documents reviewed by civil society groups, many of these flagged individuals came from minority-dominated mohallas and Dalit bastis, and were listed as “migrated” or “duplicate” without proper field verification.
Bihar Roll Revision Blowup (Part-2): Why a Forensic Probe is a Must
BiharVoterScandal #ElectoralFraud #SaveOurVotes #ECIUnderScanner #Form6Forgery #ForensicAuditNow #DemocracyOnTrial #AjitAnjum https://t.co/L8lKBBeoju— POWER CORRIDORS (@power_corridors) July 19, 2025
Independent journalist Ajit Anjum’s investigation in Purnia uncovered hundreds of Form 7 submissions signed by Booth Level Officers (BLOs), often filled out without visiting homes. In one case, a single BLO was found to have processed over 800 deletions with identical handwriting, all without prior notice to the voters concerned. Most affected families only discovered their removal by checking online or when they were unable to vote during bypolls.
“This is a bureaucratic massacre of democracy,” said Anjum. “The people being deleted are not ghost voters. They’re real, living individuals—mostly poor, marginalised, and voiceless.”
The silence of the Election Commission has further fueled suspicions. While the EC was quick to declare that illegal immigrants from Bangladesh and Myanmar had been found on the rolls, it has remained tight-lipped about how many Dalits or Muslims are being struck off. “Why this selective transparency?” asked RJD spokesperson Subodh Kumar. “You name the foreigners but not the citizens whose rights you’re taking away?”
RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav has been in the forefront of attacking the SIR. “We suspect that this exercise… is aimed at disenfranchising a large number of people especially those from deprived sections of society,” he said, adding,” . If the purpose of an exercise becomes exclusion instead of inclusion, what should we do? A little manipulation in the voters’ list can easily tilt the scales.”
Several Civil rights organizations have demanded that the EC publish a district-wise, caste-wise, and religion-wise breakup of deleted voters. Some are preparing to approach the courts, arguing that mass deletions based on intelligence reports or arbitrary surveys constitute a violation of fundamental rights.
For Bihar’s marginalised communities—already battling poverty, poor access to justice, and underrepresentation—the loss of voting rights could be devastating. “For Dalits and Muslims, the vote is the only weapon they have in a system stacked against them,” RJD leader Manoj Jha has repeatedly said. “If that’s taken away, what’s left?”
With assembly election less than four months away, the clock is ticking. And unless the EC addresses the growing outcry with concrete data and corrective action, this episode could go down as one of the most consequential and contested voter revision exercises in India’s democratic history.
