Daijiworld Media Network - New Delhi

New Delhi, Oct 9: Senior Congress leader P. Chidambaram on Thursday intensified criticism against the Election Commission of India (ECI), questioning the integrity and timing of its Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral rolls in Bihar ahead of the upcoming Assembly elections.

In a sharp post on social media, Chidambaram posed six pointed questions to the poll panel, highlighting alleged irregularities in the voter verification and purification process, and urging the ECI to respond in the interest of transparency and public trust.

While clarifying that he was not accusing the ECI of misconduct, the former Union Minister said that the people of Bihar—and India—deserve clarity, especially when such a major revision has taken place just before crucial state elections.

“I am not alleging wrongdoing, but there are serious doubts, confusion, and suspicion surrounding this hurried exercise. The ECI owes the people an explanation,” Chidambaram wrote.

Among his questions, Chidambaram demanded to know:

• What is the estimated adult population of Bihar according to government data?
• What percentage of adults are currently listed on the electoral rolls? Is it 90.7%, and if so, why are 9.3% missing?
• How many names in the rolls are gibberish or invalid – is the figure around 24,000?
• Are there over 2 lakh entries with blank or obviously fake house numbers?
• How many duplicate or double entries exist? Is the number around 5.2 lakh?

The final electoral rolls published on September 30 recorded 7.42 crore registered voters in Bihar. However, opposition parties led by the Congress have alleged that the SIR process was politically motivated, citing disproportionate deletions of voter names in specific constituencies.

According to their claims, nearly 10% of the total 67.3 lakh deletions occurred in just 15 out of 243 Assembly seats, prompting suspicions of targeted purging.

Chidambaram also pressed the ECI to disclose:

• A consolidated list of deleted voters, preferably broken down booth-wise.
• The reasons for deletions in each case.

The Congress has accused the ECI of lacking transparency and failing to uphold neutrality, with many leaders alleging that the revision drive benefits the ruling party.

With state elections looming, Chidambaram’s questions have added fresh fuel to the debate over voter disenfranchisement, data integrity, and the credibility of electoral processes in one of India’s most politically crucial states.