New Delhi: The Election Commission of India (ECI) on July 27 has responded strongly to its criticism over the ongoing voter revision drive.
The poll panel without taking names hit back to its critics for spreading what it called ‘false narrative’ that the list which will be out on August 1 is final, despite it being a draft list with a window of one month to raise objections if any.
“It is not able to understandable that when a full one-month period from August 1 till September 1 is available to point out wrongful inclusion or wrongful exclusion of any name, why are they creating such a big fuss now,” the poll body said in a statement, without naming anyone.
“Why not ask their 1.6 lakh BLAs to submit claims and objections from August 1 till September 1?” the ECI said, referring to booth level agents, or BLAs. “Why are some people trying to give an impression that the draft list is the final list, which it is not, as per SIR orders.”
The ECI’s statement came on the conclusion of the month-long phase 1 of the ongoing Special Intensive Revision [SIR] drive in the poll bound state of Bihar.
In a statement issued on Sunday, the ECI informed that out of the total 7.89 electors, Enumeration Forms from 7.24 crore electors have been received, indicating an overwhelming participation.
It added that around 65 lakhs electors during the revision drive are found either to be deceased [22 lakhs], permanently shifted/not found [36 lakhs] or enrolled at multiple places [7 lakhs].
𝐁𝐢𝐡𝐚𝐫 𝐒𝐈𝐑: 𝐊𝐞𝐲 𝐅𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐄𝐧𝐮𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐏𝐡𝐚𝐬𝐞 (𝟐𝟒 𝐉𝐮𝐧𝐞 – 𝟐𝟓 𝐉𝐮𝐥𝐲 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟓)
𝑹𝒆𝒂𝒅 𝒊𝒏 𝒅𝒆𝒕𝒂𝒊𝒍𝒔 : https://t.co/SrE14zwtZt pic.twitter.com/jdH0rcNSRR
— Election Commission of India (@ECISVEEP) July 27, 2025
The poll panel underscored that around 1.6 lakh Booth Level Agents were appointed by the 12 major political parties in the state with their number increasing during the revision drive.
ECI commenced a multi-phase voter revision drive to ensure inclusion of every eligible voter in the overhauled electoral list which the Commission aims to roll out by September 30.
The poll body has maintained that the electoral revision is aimed at overhauling the state’s voter list with inclusion of eligible voters and ensuring that no ineligible names should be there in the fresh electoral list.
The revision drive stirred a major row with opposition parties raising concern over the timing and transparency of the drive, alleging that the exercise could lead to exclusion of a large chunk of electors particularly from the marginalised sections.
Representatives of political parties along with NGOs such as ADR also approached the Supreme Court, seeking a stay over the revision drive. The apex court however allowed the poll body to continue with the drive while instructing to submit a written response that why documents such as Aadhaar, Voter ID and Ration card should not be included in the list of indicative documents for inclusion of electors.
The ECI in response filed an affidavit before the SC, stating that the aforementioned documents are not reliable for inclusion in the fresh electoral list. The court will hear the matter next on July 28. Meanwhile the ECI’s drive has received strong support from the NDA leaders who have trained guns on the opposition accusing them for politicising the issue for vote bank politics.
