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EC Sets Patna Consultations as Bihar’s Final Voter Roll Faces Fresh Questions

Parties will brief the commission in Patna on Saturday following a revision that cut roughly 47 lakh names, drawing calls for clarity on additions as well as deletions.

Overview

  • After the Special Intensive Revision, the Election Commission published Bihar’s final roll on September 30 listing 7.42 crore electors, with about 68.6 lakh deletions and 21.53 lakh additions for a net drop of roughly 47 lakh since June 24.
  • Analysts and opposition leaders highlighted an unexplained gap of about 4.6 lakh in additions, noting the EC reported 16.93 lakh Form‑6 applications by September 1 but recorded 21.53 lakh new entries in the final roll.
  • District data show sharper declines in Gopalganj, Kishanganj and Purnia, with several Muslim‑majority areas and many constituencies registering reductions in the share of women voters.
  • The Congress and RJD allege exclusion of poor, Dalit, OBC and minority voters and seek probes, while the BJP and JD(U) defend the exercise as a necessary cleanup of bogus or ineligible entries.
  • Supreme Court oversight pushed course corrections, including accepting Aadhaar as an additional document, with further review expected in early October, as the EC meets parties in Patna on October 4 and keeps inclusion open until 10 days before nomination deadlines.