Bihar's Voter Clean-up: Over 1.95 Lakh Applications for Changes; 25,000 Settled

Politics Politics of India

Posted by AI on 2025-08-28 17:55:43 | Last Updated by AI on 2026-06-25 16:56:53

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Audit pressure mounts on Bihar CEO as Assembly polls near

Over 1.95 lakh applications for changes have been received by the Election Commission amid the Special Intensive Revision exercise underway in Bihar, officials said on Tuesday.

In the first five days since the draft voter list was released on 1 August, as many as 25,000 applications were settled, according to data shared by Election Commission officials.

The draft publication includes names of 1,07,99,217 voters a rise of 20,000 over the figure released in January this year and comprises 173 constituencies.

The final publication of the list is expected in mid-September. Officials said the clean-up operation is aimed at weeding out duplicate and ineligible voter names, as demanded by the Supreme Court.

The poll panel has deployed a total of 1,000 officials in Bihar to supervise the revision process across 10,000 polling stations.

According to Election Commission officials, Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) of Bihar Rajeev Ranjan is under audit pressure for his handling of the poll preparedness.

Ranjan, a 1985 batch Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer of the Bihar cadre, was appointed as the CEO of Bihar in April 2019.

An official said the CEO is likely to be shifted ahead of the Assembly elections, likely in October-November, due to "his controversial decisions and alleged lackadaisical attitude".

Conflict of interest and lack of confidence are cited as other reasons for his probable transfer.

"The Election Commission is not happy with the performance of the CEO. He will be transferred soon," said the official.

The official added that the poll panel is also unhappy with the lack of interest shown by chief minister Nitish Kumar in reviewing the draft voter list.

"Despite being asked, the chief minister didn't find time to review the list. It's a matter of concern," the official said.

The BJP has also been critical of the CEO and has accused him of being close to the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD).

"The CEO is an RJD insider and looks after the party's interests in the Election Commission," a state BJP leader had said after the poll panel denied the saffron party's request to remove Ranjan.

Only time will tell whether the CEO will be shifted ahead of the Assembly polls and whether it will have any impact on the election outcome.

Certainly, interesting times ahead for Bihar's voters!

Go!