In a significant development for the electoral process in Bihar, over 100,000 applications submitted for new voter registrations have been rejected. This action follows the release of the draft electoral roll as part of the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process in the state. Official data from the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) of Bihar indicates that out of the 2.26 million applications received during the claims and objections period, which concluded on September 1, a total of 106,304 Form-6 applications were turned down.
Form-6 is the standard application form that citizens use to register as new voters. The substantial number of rejections comes amidst a notable surge in applications, rising from approximately 1.2 million during the previous special summary revision in January to 2.26 million after the draft roll’s release in August. This increase suggests a heightened interest in new voter registrations, with many applications submitted following deletions that occurred during the verification drive.
A closer look at the district-wise data reveals that Purnia reported the highest number of rejections with 8,946 applications turned away. Other districts with high rejection rates include Sitamarhi (6,451), Madhubani (5,218), and Kishanganj (5,009). These districts, bordering Nepal and West Bengal, have historically faced stricter scrutiny during voter roll revisions due to concerns about cross-border movement and demographic sensitivities. In contrast, districts in central Bihar, such as Patna (4,134) and Nalanda (2,127), recorded fewer rejections.
The draft roll published on August 1 showed a decrease in the total number of electors to 72.4 million, down from 78.9 million earlier in the year. This reduction is attributed to the deletion of approximately 6.5 million names, identified by Booth Level Officers (BLOs) as deceased, absent, permanently shifted, or already enrolled elsewhere. Following the draft publication, the Election Commission (EC) provided a one-month window for new voter applications (Form-6), updates for existing voters (Form-8), and for raising objections to entries in the electoral rolls.
Interestingly, the data on objections filed indicates a minimal number of cases where individuals were challenged specifically as “not Indian citizens.” While objections are categorized by assembly constituency, an initial analysis of three border districts—Kishanganj, Supaul, and Purnia—showed very few such instances. In Kishanganj, for example, only two objections were raised on grounds of suspected non-citizenship, both of which were later rejected after hearings. Similarly, Purnia saw five objections related to suspected foreign nationals, and Supaul recorded 14 such cases, with updates ranging from ‘forwarded to ERO’ to ‘FVR submitted’.
EC officials had previously stated that the SIR process would include a detailed verification drive from August 1 to August 30 to identify and remove ineligible names. BLOs had reportedly encountered individuals with Indian identity documents like Aadhaar, ration cards, and domicile certificates during house-to-house verifications, even if they appeared to be from Nepal, Bangladesh, or Myanmar. However, the low number of formal objections based on citizenship suggests that the majority of deletions were due to other reasons like death or migration.
The Election Commission had announced the SIR process in June, citing the need to address concerns about ineligible or foreign nationals on electoral lists and the impact of large-scale migration. The final electoral roll for Bihar was officially published on September 30.
Overall, while the verification and deletion processes were extensive across Bihar, the actual number of objections directly citing foreign nationality remained remarkably low, even in districts situated close to international borders.