Archive · 28 Sep 2026
Bihar SIR Row: CPI(ML) Plans Public Hearing For Excluded Voters
A political party in Bihar says some living people were wrongly removed from voter lists.
The party’s leader, Dipankar Bhattacharya, plans to bring affected people from 10 assembly areas to a public hearing on October 1.
He says the voter-list checking process, called SIR, should stop.
He also wants elections held after the process to be conducted again.
Bhattacharya accused the Election Commission of favoring the BJP, but this remains his allegation.
Bihar authorities had said the process created a “purified” voter list.
They have also said that people left out could later be added.
Bhattacharya questioned why those people should have to fill out Form 6 to be included again.
CPI (ML) general secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya said his party will bring allegedly excluded voters from 10 Bihar assembly constituencies to a public hearing on October 1.
Bhattacharya alleged that living Bihar residents were deprived of their voting rights during the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls.
He demanded that the SIR be stopped immediately and that elections held after it be conducted afresh.
Bhattacharya accused the Election Commission of working in alleged collusion with the BJP and called for Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar to step down.
He also questioned the Election Commission’s handling of 16 lakh people in West Bengal and its requirement that excluded voters submit Form 6.
- Who
- CPI (ML) general secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya, the Election Commission, Bihar authorities, and allegedly excluded voters.
- What
- The CPI (ML) plans to present allegedly excluded voters from 10 assembly constituencies at an October 1 public hearing and is demanding changes to the electoral-roll revision process.
- When
- The public hearing is planned for October 1; the article does not specify the year.
- Where
- Bihar, with Bhattacharya also raising a related issue concerning West Bengal.
- Why
- Bhattacharya says living residents were wrongly deprived of voting rights during the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls.
CPI (ML) and Opposition Allegations
Authorities and Election Commission Position
Validity of the voter-roll revision
CPI (ML) and Opposition Allegations
Dipankar Bhattacharya alleges that living people in Bihar were excluded from electoral rolls and demands that the Special Intensive Revision be stopped.
Authorities and Election Commission Position
Bihar authorities had claimed that the process produced a “purified” electoral roll and said people left out would be added.
Whether irregularities occurred
CPI (ML) and Opposition Allegations
Bhattacharya says the revision involved irregularities and alleges that the Election Commission was working in collusion with the BJP.
Authorities and Election Commission Position
Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary claimed that the SIR exercise in Bihar was conducted without irregularity.
Election Commission accountability
CPI (ML) and Opposition Allegations
Bhattacharya called for Gyanesh Kumar to step down and interpreted a recent Election Commission statement about circulating meeting agendas in advance as an “admission of guilt.”
Authorities and Election Commission Position
The Election Commission’s statement, as described in the article, said agendas for meetings would henceforth be circulated in advance; the article does not provide a response to Bhattacharya’s wider allegations.
- Political party
- Communist Party of India (Marxist–Leninist), referred to in the article as CPI (ML).
- Party leader
- Dipankar Bhattacharya, CPI (ML) general secretary.
- Planned hearing
- October 1 public hearing.
- Constituencies involved
- Allegedly affected voters from 10 Bihar assembly constituencies.
- Main demand
- Immediate suspension of the Special Intensive Revision and fresh elections after the revision.
- West Bengal figure
- Bhattacharya said 16 lakh people there had previously been considered eligible voters before the Election Commission challenged their eligibility.
- Election official criticized
- Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.