Bihar Voter List Includes Several Bangladesh, Nepal, Myanmar Citizens: Source

Foreign Nationals Detected in Bihar Voter List During Electoral Roll Revision.

A large number of individuals from Nepal, Bangladesh, and Myanmar have been identified in Bihar during the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the state’s electoral rolls, sources have confirmed. The revelation has triggered scrutiny, with officials stating that the names of such individuals will not be included in the final voter list, which is set to be published on September 30, 2025, following detailed verification beginning after August 1.

The Election Commission of India (ECI) launched the SIR on June 25, with the goal of cleansing the electoral rolls of ineligible entries and ensuring that only Indian citizens are included. The revision process is scheduled to continue until July 26.

As part of the drive, all voters were asked to submit valid documents proving their citizenship. More than 77,000 Booth Level Officers (BLOs), supported by government staff and political party workers, are currently verifying the identities of over 7.8 crore registered voters across Bihar.

The issue has taken a political turn, with BJP IT Cell head Amit Malviya accusing opposition parties of attempting to manipulate the voter rolls for electoral gain. “The voter list in Bihar has been found to include names of foreign citizens from countries like Bangladesh, Myanmar, and Nepal,” Malviya said in a post. He alleged that parties such as the RJD, Congress, and Left—along with allied NGOs, YouTubers, and activists—were pressuring the ECI to retain these names to bolster their “vote bank.”

The controversy comes amid ongoing legal scrutiny. A batch of petitions challenging the ECI’s revision process was recently heard by the Supreme Court, with petitioners including Mahua Moitra (TMC), Manoj Kumar Jha (RJD), KC Venugopal (Congress), and Supriya Sule (NCP-SP). While the court permitted the SIR to proceed, it advised the ECI to consider commonly held documents—such as Aadhaar, voter ID, and ration cards—during verification, in addition to the 11 officially listed documents.

The ECI later clarified that while these documents are being accepted, they do not independently establish eligibility to vote.

Following the Bihar exercise, similar voter roll revisions are expected to begin in West Bengal, Assam, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and Puducherry, where assembly elections are likely to be announced by March or April 2026, ahead of the scheduled end of legislative terms in May.