Patna, September 30, 2025: The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Tuesday released the final electoral roll for Bihar, incorporating all claims and objections raised during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voters’ lists. The announcement was made by Bihar’s Chief Electoral Officer through an official Facebook post, directing citizens to check their names at voters.eci.gov.in.
The final roll comes ahead of the likely announcement of the Bihar assembly elections and follows a mammoth SIR exercise intended for nationwide implementation in due course. The draft voters’ list had previously recorded 7.24 crore voters after approximately 65 lakh names were deleted as “absent,” “shifted,” or “dead.”
The SIR has sparked controversy, with opposition parties alleging that it aimed to wrongfully remove voters less likely to support the ruling BJP-led NDA. Some parties have approached the Supreme Court over the matter.
BJP leaders, including Union Home Minister Amit Shah, defended the exercise, saying it was necessary to identify “infiltrators” allegedly protected by the INDIA bloc and ensure legitimate voting rights. The final state-wide voter data is yet to be released.
