The row over a 'special intensive revision' of Bihar's voter list - months before an Assembly election - took a big twist Wednesday after a MP from the ruling Janata Dal United backed the opposition's criticism of the timing of the exercise and calls to de-link it from the poll.
Girdhari Yadav, the MP from Banka in southeastern Bihar, said the Election Commission had "no practical knowledge" and had "forcefully imposed" the revision on nearly eight crore voters.
"... the Election Commission has no practical knowledge. It neither knows the history nor geography of Bihar. It took 10 days for me to collect all the documents. My son stays in America... how will he complete all formalities in just a month?"
"This 'special intensive revision' has been imposed on us forcefully," Mr Yadav told reporters outside Parliament this morning, on the third day of the monsoon session.
#WATCH | Monsoon Session of Parliament |On SIR (Special Intensive Revision), JDU MP Giridhari Yadav, says "...Election Commission has no practical knowledge. It neither knows the history nor the geography of Bihar. It took 10 days for me to collect all the documents. My son… pic.twitter.com/nERFIX2fQq
— ANI (@ANI) July 23, 2025
"Six months should have been given for this," he said. The JDU MP also clarified - in anticipation of questions from his party, which is allied with the BJP - this is his personal opinion.
"It doesn't matter what the party is saying... this is the truth. If I can't say the truth, why have I become an MP?" Mr Yadav asked reporters.
The JDU leader's comments have been played down by Union Minister Chirag Paswan, whose Lok Janshakti Party is allied with the BJP at the centre but is expected to contest the election solo.
"This process has been made to make it easy. Online forms can be filled... I understand a lot of people are not living in Bihar but their families are they can fill in the forms," he said.
NDTV Explains | Row Over 'Special Intensive Revision' Of Bihar Voter List
The EC has said the revision - a constitutionally-mandated exercise - is necessary to remove individuals who may have died or migrated, or others who may have been registered twice.
On Tuesday the poll panel said around 52 lakh entries had been deleted.
Last week the EC also said a significant number of 'voters' were from foreign countries.
The opposition has alleged the EC's exercise, which they claim has been ordered by the BJP, targets voters from marginalised and poorer communities that they see as their voter base.
The opposition also criticised the EC's decision to exclude commonly accepted and government-issued IDs, including the Aadhaar and its own identity card, for voter verification.
Earlier this month RJD chief Tejashwi Yadav, the face of the opposition, questioned the claim that over 80 per cent of voters had been 're-verified' when an estimated four crore live outside the state.
READ | "Bewildering": Tejashwi Yadav On Poll Body's Bihar Voter List Claim
The Congress also hit out at the EC, accusing the government of using the poll body to implement the contentious National Register of Citizens. "It is not the responsibility of the EC to prove citizenship. Why is this exercise being conducted five months before the polls?" Jairam Ramesh told news agency ANI.
Challenges to the revision are being heard by the Supreme Court, which asked searching questions of the Election Commission, including the timing of the exercise, but allowed it to continue.
The court did call for the Aadhaar and election ID cards to be accepted, but, in a nearly 800-page affidavit, the poll panel declared it could not take up this suggestion.
READ | Aadhaar, Voter ID Not Okay For Bihar Revision: Poll Body Tells Top Court
The court also directed the EC to ensure the process is completed, including hearing and settling of appeals by people removed from the list, before the election.
The EC has said the final list will be published September 30.
With input from agencies
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