Bihar final voter list released, 48 lakh removed after SIR and objections | Details

THe Election charge of republic of india (EC) has released the last elector rolls for Bihar forward of the assembly election due in October-November, on Tuesday, eventually excluding 48 lakh names that were on the rolls before the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) began three months ago. “In light of the SIR, the final electoral roll dated September 30, 2025, has been published. Any voter can check the details of their name in the voter list through the link, voters.eci.gov.in,” an official shared.The EC weblink gave two main options, to search your name in the rolls, or to download assembly segment-wise rolls.The earlier draft of the electoral rolls was published on August 1 and was open for "claims and objections" by individuals and political parties till September 1.Bihar's 2025 final voter list: Key numbersThe number of electors on the final voter list is 7.42 crore. Here is how the data worked in the SIR:7.89 crore voters were on the rolls on June 24, 2025, before the SIR began.65 lakh were then excluded for reasons such as death, shift of residence and duplicate entries.7.24 crore was the number on the draft SIR list on August 1.3.66 lakh were further removed removed after scrutiny found them ineligible.21.53 lakh names were added or re-included after they were found eligible during the objections and scrutiny process. Finally, after calculating the deletions (65 lakh + 3.66 lakh = 68.66 lakh), and additions (21.53 lakh), the final number of electors as on September 30, 2025, is 7.42 crore.The commission is also expected to release the schedule for the Bihar assembly election within a week, news agency PTI has reported. It said the first phase of voting is likely to be held after the Chhath festival in late October.Chhath Puja will be observed from October 25 to 28, meaning the polls could begin late October or in the first week of November.Sources close to the matter told PTI that a briefing of observers is expected to take place on October 3. At least 470 observers are being deployed by the polling body for Bihar assembly election and some bypolls elsewhere.As for the final voter list, it comes following the conclusion of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) which was held after a gap of 22 years in the state. The SIR erupted a row between opposition political parties and the Election Commission.The matter is also in the Supreme Court, where the next hearing is in about a week. The commission has been under fire particularly for seeking citizenship proof. The SC had asked it to accept Aadhaar after much wrangling.Led by Congress MP Rahul Gandhi's ‘vote chori’ charge, many opposition leaders claimed that Bihar SIR will disenfranchise crores of genuine citizens of their voting rights.However, the commission responded to these claims during a press conference in August and said it will not allow any eligible citizen to be left out of the voter list.The tenure of the current government in Bihar is set to conclude on November 22, which means results have to be declared in time for the formation of a new government by then. Last time, in 2020, the results were out on November 10Of the 243 seats in the Bihar assembly, the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) won 125 then, with the BJP having 74 MLAs, JD(U)-43, HAM(S)-4, and support of two independent candidates.Opposition's INDIA Bloc (called Mahagathbandhan or Grand Alliance) had 110 MLAs, with the RJD leading with 75, followed by Congress with 19, CPI(ML)-Liberation with 12, CPI(M) and CPI with two each.