Bihar SIR deleted names | Patna accounts for highest number of non-included enumeration forms

New Delhi: The Election Commission (EC) on Monday came out with the names of 65 lakh people who were removed from the draft electoral rolls published as part of the special intensive revision (SIR) exercise, officials said.

The development came after the Supreme Court directed the EC to publish the deleted names by August 19 and file a compliance report by August 22.

The EC published the names of 'ASD' (Absentee, Shifted, and Dead) voters across polling booths, and also online as directed by the apex court, they said.

According to the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), Bihar, ASD lists have been displayed at polling booths in Rohtas, Begusarai, Arwal, Siwan, Bhojpur, Jehanabad, Lakhisarai, Banka, Darbhanga, Purnea and other places.

A statement issued by Bihar CEO Vinod Singh Gunjiyal said, "In light of the interim order passed by the Supreme Court on August 14, 2025... it is hereby notified that the list of such electors whose names were included in the Electoral Roll of the year 2025 (before the draft publication) but are not included in the draft roll published on August 1, 2025, along with reasons (Deceased/Permanently Shifted/Absent/Repeated Entry), has been published on the websites of the Chief Electoral Officer, Bihar, and all District Election Officers of the State of Bihar."

All such electors, whose names are not included in the draft roll, may obtain information about their entry and the reasons thereof by using their EPIC number in the published list, he said.

The list relating to such electors not included in the draft roll published on August 1, 2025 has also been displayed at all block offices, panchayat offices, urban local body offices, and at the polling stations. Through these, such electors can obtain information regarding their entries along with the reasons, the CEO said.

Any person dissatisfied may file a claim along with a copy of their Aadhaar card, he said.

The Supreme Court, in an order on August 14, directed the Election Commission to publish an enumerated, booth-wise list of around 65 lakh electors not included in the draft electoral roll, published on August 1, during the ongoing SIR exercise in Bihar, where assembly elections are due later this year.

Leader of the Opposition in Bihar Assembly, Tejashwi Yadav, slammed the EC over the ongoing SIR and wrote in a post on X on Monday, "The current Chief Election Commissioner wants to perform better than Anil Masih, who was the Presiding Officer in the Chandigarh Mayor election. The responsibility of saving the Election Commission's credibility now lies not with the officials but with the public..

More than 65 lakh enumeration forms were 'not included' in the draft electoral rolls prepared as part of the first phase of SIR by the EC in Bihar, bringing down the total number of around 7.9 crore registered voters to 7.24 crore.

Patna accounted for the highest number of 3.95 lakh non-included enumeration forms, followed by Madhubani (3.52 lakh), East Champaran (3.16 lakh), Gopalganj (3.10 lakh), Samastipur (2.83 lakh), Muzaffarpur (2.82 lakh), Purnia (2.739 lakh), Saran (2.732 lakh), Sitamarhi (2.44 lakh), Katihar (1.84 lakh), Kishanganj (1.45 lakh), according to the EC.

Sheikhpura is the district where only 26,256 enumeration forms were not included in the draft roll, followed by Sheohar (28,166), Arwal (30,180), Munger (74,916) and Khagaria (79,551).

The EC claimed that '22,34,501' people, registered in the electoral roll, were found to be dead during the exercise. Another 36.28 lakh have 'permanently shifted' out of the state or were 'not found' at their stated addresses, and another 7.01 lakh have been found enrolled at 'more than one place'.