Bihar Assembly Elections 2025: RJD leader and Bihar LoP Tejashwi Yadav has come out swinging against the Election Commission’s voter list revision in poll-bound Bihar, claiming that Bihar CM Nitish Kumar and Prime Minister Narendra Modi are scared, and the revision is a move by them to ‘snatch voting rights of poor, the “backbenchers of society.”
“CM Nitish Kumar and PM Modi are scared… They want the names of the poor to be removed from the voter list… They want to snatch the right to vote from the poor section of the society… the backbenchers of the society,” Tejashwi Yadav told reporters.
With Bihar Assembly Elections due in November 2025, the Election Commission of India (ECI) on Friday, June 27 directed electoral rolls for Bihar to be prepared afresh.
‘Documents demanded are such…’
Continuing his criticism of the electoral roll revision, RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav further questioned on why it was being done just two months before the elections, and claimed that the documents demanded by EC are such which the poor sections of the society might not have access to.
“Why is this being done 2 months before the elections? Is it possible to develop the voters’ list for eight crore people within 25 days?… The documents demanded are such that the poor may not even have them… Our delegation will approach the election commission regarding this matter,” said Tejashwi Yadav.
The EC has directed that all electors must submit an enumeration form, and those registered after 2003 have to additionally provide documentation establishing their citizenship.
Why election roll revision in Bihar
As per the The Representation of the People Act, 1950, the Election Commission “may at any time… direct a special revision of the electoral roll for any constituency or part of a constituency in such manner as it may think fit.”
The Election Commission said the intensified revision is to ensure that all eligible citizens are enrolled, ineligible names are removed, and the process remains fully transparent.
The process began on Wednesday (June 25), and will end with the publication of the final electoral roll on September 30.
Controversy over the revision
The revision of the Bihar electoral rolls by EC has ignited a massive controversy, with several opposition parties criticising the move.
Earlier, the Congress opposed the revision exercise, saying it risks the willful exclusion of voters using the state machinery. In a statement, the Congress’ empowered action group of leaders and experts (EAGLE) said the EC’s revision of electoral rolls is a cure worse than the disease.
Similar revisions planned for other states
The Election Commission plans to carry out similar reviews in five other states — Assam, Kerala, Puducherry, Tamil Nadu, and West Bengal — ahead of their 2026 elections, news agency PTI reported on Wednesday, June 25.
