No political party complaints nearly two weeks after draft rolls, says EC

New Delhi: The Election Commission (EC) said on Wednesday that no political party has lodged any objections or complaints so far regarding the inclusion or exclusion of voters from the electoral rolls in Bihar, nearly two weeks after the publication of draft rolls under the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise.

In its routine bulletin on the contentious drive, the EC noted that more than 17,000 individuals have directly approached the poll panel to register complaints. It added that 74,525 people have applied for inclusion in the rolls, including six who turned 18 after the draft rolls were published on 1 August and who submitted their forms through Booth Level Agents (BLAs).

The absence of claims or objections from parties, particularly Opposition groups that had strongly opposed the voter verification drive last month, has drawn attention in the run-up to the Assembly elections later this year.

The EC said claims and objections will be decided by the respective Electoral Registration Officers (ERO) or Assistant Electoral Registration Officers (AERO) after a seven-day period following verification of eligibility documents.

“As per SIR orders, no name can be deleted from the draft list published on 1st August 2025 without passing a speaking order by the ERO/AERO after conducting an enquiry and after giving a fair and reasonable opportunity,” the Commission said.

The draft rolls were published on 1 August, with a month-long window for individuals and parties to file objections. The Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) has 47,506 BLAs, the Congress 17,549, and the Left over 2,000, together accounting for more than 67,000 agents.

The enumeration phase of the SIR was conducted from 24 June to 25 July, during which over 7.24 crore electors, out of a total of 7.89 crore, submitted their forms.