New Delhi: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on July 9 launched a scathing attack on Mahagathbandhan (Grand Alliance) leaders over their statewide ‘Chakka Jaam’ protest against the Election Commission of India (ECI) voter list revision drive in the state.
Stressing that people should only vote from where they live, BJP MP and former Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad alleged that the opposition wants to do politics on the shoulders of people who registered themselves as voters “wrongfully”.
Addressing a presser, the former Law Minister questioned the grand alliance leaders opposition to the EC’s voter list revision drive, asking whether they want “to put those in the voter list who should not be there?”
“Do they want to put those on the voter list who should not be there? People who are intruders. Whether they are Rohingya or anyone else, they wrongly put their names on the voter list. So if it’s working, honestly. So what’s the problem with you? That’s the sign. They want to do their politics on the shoulders of those who became voters wrongfully.” Ravi Shankar Prasad said.
The BJP MP during the press conference stressed that people should vote only from where they live.
“Rahul Gandhi, Tejaswi Yadav and everyone are roaming on the streets (of Bihar). This is their right. I don’t want to say anything. I want to bring to the attention of the country some important issues. In this country, who elect MPs and MLAs. Only those who are citizens of India vote. He should be above 18 years old and should live in the same place where he votes. I am the MP of Patna; I can’t vote in Delhi because I’m not a voter here. So, if there is a revision of the voter list, then what is the problem for you?” he said.
Prasad further pointed out that the protest by the opposition leaders was called only a day before the scheduled hearing on please challenging revision drive in Supreme Court on July 10 and asked that whether the protest was part of ‘pressure tactics’.
“The second thing is that all these people knocked on the door of the Supreme Court. The hearing is scheduled for tomorrow. So is this a pressure tactic? Either you believe in the court or believe in the street.”
#WATCH | Delhi | On 'Bihar Bandh' rally against electoral rolls revision in Bihar, BJP MP Ravi Shankar Prasad says, "Does the opposition want the inclusion of infiltrators and others in the voter list? Is it not true that Rohingyas get their names registered in the voter list?… pic.twitter.com/0tDtN4EEUX
— ANI (@ANI) July 9, 2025
Prasad informed that there are 7.9 crore voters in Bihar and 4 crore voters have submitted the enumeration form. He said that those who had the names in the voter list as of 2003 need not submit the documents. The BJP leader pointed out that there are nearly one lakh booths in the state and around 4 lakh BLOs are working to smoothen the process.
It is to be noted that the Mahagathbandhan parties observed a statewide bandh over EC’s Special Intensive Drive (SIR) in the state, claiming that the voter revision exercise could lead to disenfranchisement of a large chunk of voters.
Senior leaders of the Congress, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and left parties joined the protest in state capital Patna, criticizing the EC’s move. Workers of the Congress and RJD also blocked railway tracks and roads at separate districts of the state during the one-day Chakka Jaam. They were later removed by the police.
The Mahagathbandhan leaders during the protest rally alleged that NDA is using the EC to remove the name of state’s poor people from the list.
EC is carrying out a voter revision drive in the state aiming to roll out a fresh and updated voter list by September this year. The commission’s move to overhaul the voter list however has sparked a major political row with opposition leaders hitting the street against the exercise. The NDA leaders on the other side have supported the EC’s move.
The commission has stated that the ongoing drive is aimed at ensuring every eligible voter’s name to be included in the updated list along removing any ineligible entries at the same time.
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