Patna: The Mahagathbandhan (Grand Alliance) parties on July 9 took to the streets in protest against the ‘Special Intensive Revision’ (SIR) of the voter list in Bihar ahead of the upcoming Assembly elections.
Workers of Congress and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) blocked the railway track and roads in several districts including in Darbhanga, Araria, Patna, Jehanabad etc. in protest against the Election Commission (EC’s) drive to overhaul the voter list ahead of the state assembly elections scheduled in winters this year.
Railway tracks were blocked in Jehanabad and state’s capital Patna by the workers of the grand alliance as part of the protest. In addition, the workers/leaders of the alliance also burned tyres and blocked roads at the Maner Assembly stretch of National Highway 30 in Patna district. Senior leaders of the grand alliance including left parties joined the protest march in Patna.
#WATCH | Bihar | Members of RJD’s students’ wing block the train tracks at Jehanabad railway station, supporting ‘Bharat Bandh’ called by a joint forum of 10 central trade unions and their affiliates pic.twitter.com/SNPhpPXZbY
— ANI (@ANI) July 9, 2025
An alert was sounded by the administration ahead of the ‘Chakka Jaam’ announced by the grand alliance parties. Security was beefed up around railway infrastructure, anticipating blockade of railway tracks during the protest. Deployment of special consignments of armed police were also made ahead of the bandh.
Leaders of grand alliance and others have raised concern over the voter list revision, claiming that the EC has no clarity over the ongoing drive and the same could lead to disenfranchisement of a large chunk of voters, especially from the marginalised sections.
EC however has debunked the claims made against the revision drive, stating that the drive is progressing smoothly in the poll bound state and aimed at ensuring an updated and accurate list.
See details in image below 👇
Stay Tuned, Stay Informed.
Link to #SIR order dated 24th June 2025 : https://t.co/Lh6Zuue1U9 https://t.co/6cJRSjzhwa pic.twitter.com/cEn4HbXnQg
— Election Commission of India (@ECISVEEP) July 7, 2025
The NDA leaders have also criticized the opposition’s protest to the drive, stating that the revision drive has been conducted from time to time and steps to prevent fake voting and protect the rights of real voters should be welcomed.
Earlier a petition seeking stay on the EC’s revision drive was also filed before the Supreme Court by leaders of the opposition parties. The petition was filed by RJD MP Manoj Jha, ADR activist Yogendra Yadav, Trinamool MP Mahua Moitra and former Bihar MLA Mujahid Alam.
A bench of SC justices though agreed to hear a batch of pleas challenging the EC’s drive and listed the matter for hearing on July 10, they refused to issue an interim stay on the ongoing drive.
It must be noted that EC commenced its Special Intensive Revision drive on June 25 with an aim to publish an overhauled electoral roll by September 30.
Sharing the details, EC on July 8 informed that the exercise of the collection of Enumeration Forms will be completed well before the last day of collection.
According to commission, the electoral roll division drive in the poll bound state is progressing well, with nearly 47 per cent Enumeration Forms out of the total electors in Bihar, collected in the first two weeks since the announcement of the revision drive.
The EC claimed that over 97 per cent of the Enumeration Forms were distributed to the electoral in the first two weeks of the electoral revision drive. It further informed that nearly 18 per cent of the forms have already been uploaded to ECINET.
EC has stated that the revision drive is being carried out strictly under the provisions of the constitution and aimed at ensuring inclusion of every eligible voter in the updated electoral list while excluding the ineligible ones at the same time.
The commission has further clarified that while submitting the filled Enumeration Form is mandatory before July 25, the documents can be submitted anytime either before July 25 or during the ‘Claims and Objection’ period starting from August 02 for a month.
