After Banka MP Giridhari Yadav, another leader belonging to the Janata Dal (United) has expressed reservations about the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process in Bihar.
Sanjeev Kumar, MLA from the Parbatta Assembly constituency, told The Hindu that voters who work outside the State may be left out of the SIR exercise. “In my own Assembly constituency, many such names have been left out. The SIR should be conducted during festivals such as Holi, Diwali and Chhath, when people working outside the State return. I am unable to contact my voters. Their houses are locked and they come to Bihar once or twice a year,” Mr. Kumar said.
He said many migrant workers won’t be able to afford the costs of returning to Bihar more than once or twice a year. Mr. Kumar also said many migrant workers are bound by contracts that prevent them from travelling frequently.
“It is very unfortunate that such migrant workers’ names would be removed and I think the Election Commission should do something about this,” Mr. Kumar said.
As per the EC’s official statement on Thursday, “99% electors have already been covered” by the exercise and Booth Level Officers (BLOs) and Booth Level Agents (BLAs) had “reported names of 21.6 lakh deceased electors and 31.5 lakh electors who have permanently migrated…., while 1 lakh electors are untraceable”.
However, Mr. Kumar said, “Even though the EC claims [to have covered] 99%, I am sure at least 1% of genuine voters have been removed. I think more time should have been given for this exercise. These are National Democratic Alliance [NDA] voters.”
He stressed that all political parties in Bihar will face the heat as names of many genuine voters were likely to be removed from the voters’ list.
Meanwhile, JD(U) MLC Khalid Anwar said the SIR should go ahead, but the EC was not the “final authority”.
“The EC is not above the Parliament, they don’t have the right to remove genuine voters from the list. The EC cannot dare to remove the names,” Mr. Anwar said.
Senior JD(U) leader and Minister Shravan Kumar also accepted that people are facing difficulties, but expressed confidence that the EC will look into the problems being faced by the voters and resolve them with the help of political parties.
AIMIM MLA hits out
On Thursday, during the ongoing Monsoon Session of the State Assembly, All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) MLA Akhtarul Iman raised concern over alleged discrimination against the Muslim population in the Seemanchal region.
“The BJP men by looking at our beards, caps and the minarets of our mosques, do not consider us Indians but as Bangladeshis. Let me say this… if Seemanchal had opted to join Pakistan during the partition, India would have been split into two parts,” Mr. Iman said.
He also termed the SIR as Tughlaqi farman (diktat).
“In Bihar, only 14% people have the required documents and 70% of the poor people, consisting of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes do not have any documents. The EC has just issued a Tughlaqi farman to submit the documents,” Mr. Iman said.
Meanwhile, police used water cannons against National Students’ Union of India (NSUI) members attempting to gherao the Vidhan Sabha during their protest against the SIR exercise.
Notice to Girdhari
On Thursday, the JD(U) issued a show-cause notice to Mr. Yadav for raising questions on the SIR. In a conversation with The Hindu on July 23, Mr. Yadav had said poor people were finding it difficult to get the documents needed for the exercise. He had also raised questions about the timing of the revision and asked if the EC could have begun the SIR effort earlier.
“Our party, the Janata Dal (United), has consistently supported the EC and the use of EVMs, both during our time in the INDIA bloc and now as part of the NDA. Your public comments on such a sensitive matter, especially in an election year, not only cause embarrassment to the party but also inadvertently lend credibility to the baseless and politically motivated allegations made by the Opposition,” Afaque Ahmad Khan, National General Secretary and MLC said in the letter issued in the evening.
He further said, “JD(U) views your conduct as a lapse in discipline and not in consonance with the party’s stated position on the matter. You are hereby called upon to show cause within 15 days of receipt of this notice, failing which disciplinary action may be initiated against you.”
Published – July 24, 2025 09:40 pm IST
