Polls declared amid scrutiny over ECI’s credibility, voter data

The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Monday announced that the Bihar assembly elections will be held in two phases , November 6 and November 11, with counting on November 14.

- Vrinda Tulsian

This will be the first major election under Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, and it comes amid scrutiny over ECI's credibility and handling of voter data.

Bihar's Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, the first in over two decades, has resulted in approximately 6.9 million deletions from the draft rolls. Political parties have expressed concern that some genuine voters may have been affected, particularly women, migrant workers, and minority communities,

Kumar defended the SIR as necessary. “The revision was done in a transparent manner. The deletions are mainly due to deaths, duplicate entries, permanent migration, or unverified citizenship,” he said, adding, “All data has been shared with political parties, and claims and objections can be raised till 10 days before the filing of nominations.”