The upcoming 2025 Bihar elections are heating up the political atmosphere. A key issue is the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the voter list, with the RJD and the India alliance expressing concerns and planning protests against the Election Commission. The opposition is making its voice heard in and out of Parliament.
Rahul Gandhi, the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, is accusing that the elections are being rigged, citing an example from a Lok Sabha constituency in Karnataka. This is not the first time Congress has raised concerns with the Election Commission. After the Maharashtra Assembly elections, they alleged that millions of voters were added in the voter list. The focus now shifts to whether Congress will replicate its Karnataka and Maharashtra strategies in Bihar, and how successful that might be.
Firstly, a look at Bihar: how many voters have been excluded, and what the Election Commission’s stance is on their inclusion. The Election Commission has completed the first phase of SIR, which ran from June 24 to July 25, 2025. Out of 7.89 crore voters, over 7.24 crore participated. The draft electoral roll will exclude about 65 lakh voters. These include 22 lakh deceased voters, 36 lakh voters who either left the state or have unknown whereabouts, and 7 lakh voters registered elsewhere.
Following the release of the SIR data, opposition parties have raised objections, fearing the local election machinery is biased towards the ruling BJP-JD(U) alliance. The Election Commission, in response, stated that the draft electoral roll will be published on August 1, and that all 38 district election officers will provide copies to political parties. Parties and voters have until September 1 to request additions or deletions. The India alliance plans to continue protesting the SIR, with a march to the Election Commission headquarters planned for the next week.
A meeting of the India alliance was held on Thursday. Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge, Rahul Gandhi, and other leaders attended the meeting.
Rahul Gandhi has also alleged manipulation of the voter lists in Karnataka, particularly during the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. He claims to have identified significant irregularities. He alleges that voter lists provided on paper are difficult to analyze, so he digitalized the voter lists to understand how the election commission operates and how new voters are created.
Gandhi stated that “elections are being stolen in the country, and this is the reality,” citing issues in both Maharashtra and Karnataka. Congress announced a protest on August 5 to expose the alleged election rigging. KC Venugopal has said that the protest will highlight the inclusion of fake voters and the exclusion of eligible voters, which raises serious questions about the process’s integrity.
Gandhi has also stated that the Election Commission cheated in Maharashtra. He alleged that voters were added illegally, and that the number of registered voters exceeded the state’s population. He pointed to instances where the votes of Congress, Shiv Sena-UBT, and NCP (SP) were consistent across Lok Sabha and Assembly elections, which indicates rigging.
Rahul Gandhi says that the Congress is accusing the election commission of manipulating voter lists in the name of voter list revision. This is a similar allegation that he made for the Maharashtra election. The question now is whether the Congress can damage the ruling BJP-JD(U) with its strategy.