Bihar’s Final Electoral Roll Puts Voter Count at 7.42 Crore
EC removes 3.66 lakh names, adds 21.53 lakh after revision; Opposition alleges bias
New Delhi/Patna: Ahead of the Bihar assembly polls, the Election Commission of India on Tuesday released the final electoral roll of Bihar, taking into account all the claims and objections to the draft lists, which were published as part of Special Intensive Revision (SIR). Out of the total 7.89 crore electors who were in the list before SIR exercise, 68.66 lakh names have been deleted. The final list now has 7.42 crore names including 21.53 lakh first time voters that were added. The ECI has asked people of the state to check their names in the list.
Any eligible voter left out in this list still has time to get names included up to ten days before the last date of nomination in Bihar assembly polls. “If any person is not satisfied with the decision of the Electoral Registration Officer regarding an entry in the final electoral roll, they may, under Section 24 of the RP Act, 1950, file a first appeal before District Magistrate and a second appeal before Chief Electoral Officer,” ECI said.
Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Mr Gyanesh Kumar said this large-scale exercise was made successful due to efforts of Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Bihar, District Election Officers (DEOs) of all 38 districts, 243 Electoral Registration Officers (EROs), 2,976 Assistant Electoral Registration Officers (AEROs), around 1 lakh Booth Level Officers (BLOs), lakhs of volunteers and the full involvement of all the 12 major Political Parties , including their district presidents and over 1.6 lakh Booth Level Agents (BLAs) appointed by them. The CEC also thanked the media for regularly spreading awareness and their feedback throughout the process. SIR in Bihar was conducted after 22 years.
Giving details of the SIR, the ECI said the total electors on June 24, 2025 were 7.89 crore out of which 65 lakh were removed in the draft list since they were either absent, shifted or dead . Accordingly, there were 7.24 crore voters in the draft list on August 1 when SIR began. ECI claimed out of these 7.24 crore 3.66 lakh were found to be ineligible and removed and 21.53 lakh new names were added. The final list that was released on Tuesday now has 7.42 crore.
The Patna district administration came out with a statement declaring that the total number of voters, across 14 assembly segments under its jurisdiction, was about 48.15 lakh, which was "an increase of 1.63 lakh" when compared with the draft electoral rolls published on August 1. The total number of female voters in the district was 22.75 lakh, and Digha constituency had the highest number of 4.56 lakh electors.
The Bihar assembly elections are likely to be announced soon, and the mammoth SIR exercise, which the EC intends to undertake across the country in due course, has stirred a controversy. Opposition parties, some of which have moved the Supreme Court, have been alleging that SIR was aimed at the wrongful deletion of names of voters who were less likely to vote for the ruling BJP-led NDA. However, BJP leaders, including Union Home Minister Amit Shah, have asserted that SIR was essential to flush out "infiltrators" whom the INDIA bloc allegedly wanted to protect and give voting rights.
