A day after a delegation of opposition parties from the INDIA bloc met the Election Commission of India (ECI) to raise concerns over the ongoing special intensive revision of electoral rolls in Bihar, the Congress party on Thursday accused the exercise of being a deliberate attempt to disenfranchise nearly 2 crore voters.
Addressing a press conference at the All India Congress Committee (AICC) headquarters, Pawan Khera, chairman of the party’s Media and Publicity Department, launched a scathing attack on the Election Commission. He alleged that the revision drive was a “clear conspiracy” to strip Bihar voters of their fundamental democratic right.
“The way the Election Commission is functioning today poses a grave threat to democracy. This is not just an attack on the Opposition but on the rights of every voter in this country,” Khera said. “With all humility, I urge the Commission to uphold the Constitution and not act as a tool of the ruling party. Power is transient — don’t mortgage the institution’s integrity.”
Bihar Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) president Rajesh Kumar echoed similar concerns, claiming that the Commission’s plan to revise in just one month is impractical and exclusionary.
“This appears to be an attempt to disenfranchise nearly 20% of Bihar’s electorate, possibly over 2 crore voters,” Kumar said. “It’s no coincidence that this is happening as the popularity of Congress and Rahul Gandhi continues to rise in Bihar.”
He further questioned how the Election Commission plans to reach and verify the data of over 3 crore migrants from Bihar who are currently working in cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Punjab, and Haryana.
Krishna Allavaru, Congress’s in-charge for Bihar, described the revision process as yet another “arbitrary and politically motivated” decision by the Narendra Modi government. He accused the EC of being complicit in a “deliberate plan to cleanse the voter rolls” and suppress dissent.
In response, the Election Commission stated on Thursday, clarifying that the special revision was being conducted in a planned, structured, and phased manner to include all eligible citizens in the voter list.
It stated that Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar had met with representatives of several opposition parties — including the Congress, RJD, SP, DMK, NCP (SCP), JMM, CPI(M), CPI(ML) Liberation, CPI, and Shiv Sena (UBT) — on Wednesday to address their concerns.
The Commission assured that it is committed to a transparent and inclusive process and urged political parties to appoint more booth-level agents to support voter verification efforts.
According to the EC, the first phase of the revision, running from June 25 to July 3, involves printing and distributing enumeration forms to approximately 7.9 crore voters across Bihar.
