Gopalganj, Kishanganj see max share of SIR deletions

The Election Commission of India (ECI) removed roughly 6.56 million names from the draft Bihar electoral roll published on Friday on account of deaths, permanent shifts and multiple enrolment, marking potentially the largest single deletion of such entries in the history of independent India.

- Abhishek Jha, Anirban Guha Roy and Vrinda Tulsian

The announcement came days after the controversial special intensive revision (SIR) in the state came to a close; the poll watchdog said that genuine names can be added till September 1 and a verification will be done in case an objection is raised for a name.

In absolute numbers and compared with the electoral roll before SIR began, ECI data showed Patna district saw the highest deletion of 395,500 voters, followed by Madhubani district (352,545), East Champaran district (316,793) and Gopalganj district (310,363).

But in percentage terms as against the 2024 Lok Sabha electoral roll, Gopalganj district saw the maximum deletions (13.9%), followed by Kishanganj district (10.5%), Purnia district (9.7%), Madhubani (8.7%) and Bhagalpur (7.8%), according to an HT analysis,

In terms of assembly constituencies, the highest percentage deletion was in Gopalganj assembly seat, followed by Kuchaikote seat, Motihari seat, Kishanganj seat, Barauli seat, and Purnia seat, the HT analysis showed.

Among the 10 assembly seats that saw the maximum percentage of deletions, the ruling National Democratic Alliance won seven in the 2020 assembly elections and the Opposition Grand Alliance won three, the HT analysis showed.