Bihar Elections 2025: Poll dates soon; parties urge for fair, transparent elections after SIR row

AS the polling for the high-stakes Bihar assemblage elections is expected presently, political parties ar calling for fairish electoral treat in the backdrop of the controversial Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise.A delegation of the Election Commission of India (ECI) is visiting the poll-bound state where it met the leaders of several political parties. Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar is leading the panel.Parties call for ‘fair’ electionsBihar Leader of Opposition and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Tejashwi Yadav said that his party had put forward their views before the poll body and that he hoped for fair elections in the state.“Our party's representatives had gone and put forward their views. We hope that this time the Bihar elections will be fair. Elections should not be held to help anyone. In a democracy, the public is the master. The public has every right that the elections should be held in a good environment,” he was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.Meanwhile, CEC Kumar has directed the district election officers and other officers to work with “impartiality” and ensure prompt resolution of complaints.Poll dates soon, elections likely after ChhathAfter meeting the political parties, the poll body said that they were suggested to hold the elections just after the Chhath festival to ensure maximum participation of voters and with minimum number of phases.The ruling Janata Dal United (JDU) said that it urged the EC to consider holding voting in a single phase. "We urged the EC to hold assembly elections in a single phase. It is possible. The state has no law and order problem, nor is it in the throes of Naxal violence. If elections could be held in a single phase in Maharashtra, why not here?" JD(U) working president Sanjay Kumar Jha said.SIR exercise ‘historic and successful’The parties, EC said, "thanked" it for successfully completing the "historic" special intensive revision (SIR) exercise and "purifying" the electoral rolls and reiterated their faith and trust in the electoral processes. The parties also appreciated the move to reduce the number of voters per polling station from 1500 to 1200 as part of rationalisation, ANI reported.The Bihar assembly elections were caught up when the ECI in June initiated a Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral rolls in Bihar ahead of the assembly elections. In a letter dated June 24, the ECI said the last intensive revision in Bihar was done in 2003, adding voters not in this list had to submit one of 11 specific documents – excluding Aadhar, voter ID, or ration cards – by July 25.This move drew criticism from civil society, with petitioners—including Association for Democratic Reforms (‘ADR’), People’s Union for Civil Liberties, TMC MP Mahua Moitra, RJD MP Manoj Jha, and activist Yogendra Yadav – arguing that the directive excludes widely held documents like Aadhaar and ration cards, disproportionately affecting poor and rural voters.