By Betwa Sharma
Delhi: Thirty minutes after he finished interviewing BLOs or booth level officers—in the Balia block of Bihar’s Begusarai district, around three to four hours by road from Patna—and left, Ajit Anjum, an independent journalist, got a call from local officials asking him to delete a video he had shot.
The video, which he uploaded to YouTube on 12 July 2025, showed BLOs uploading voter registration forms without photographs and other crucial details, chronicling irregularities in the special intensive revision (SIR) announced by the Election Commission of India (ECI) on 24 June. This constitutional body oversees the state and parliamentary elections.
Such a significant revision of the electoral rolls six months before the state assembly elections in Bihar triggered questions and concerns about motive and manageability, and ultimately deep distress and disenfranchisement of marginalised and minority populations.
On 15 July, Article 14 reported the chaos and confusion as the ECI attempted to revise Bihar’s electoral rolls for 78 million people in about three months, with voters struggling to organise the documents needed to register to vote.
The SIR requires everyone who registered after 2003—approximately 29 million voters—to submit one of 11 documents to establish their date and place of birth, while excluding the most common forms of identification—Aadhaar, PAN, and voter cards—often used to procure one of the required documents.
The Supreme Court, in response to petitions filed by opposition parties, has not stopped the revision, but warned the ECI against carrying it out in such a short period and suggested that it at least accept more documents, including Aadhaar.
First came a press note from the district magistrate of Begusarai, which said Anjum had filmed ongoing electoral work without authorisation, targeted people of a particular community, tried to make their private documents public, highlighted people of a particular caste in a way that creates social division and hatred, and spread misinformation that may potentially incite religious hatred.
This story was originally published in article-14.com. Read the full story here.
