Democracy Can Be Fraught in a Country That Lacks a Headcount

Weak data has led to arguments over Bihar's electoral roll revision

- MIHIR SHARMA

India may have 1.4 billion people, or thereabouts. It's probably the world's most populous country, and may have overtaken China in 2023. We can't say for sure, because the country's government doesn't exactly know how many people it governs, where they live, or how many are citizens. A census has not been conducted since 2011 (though a delayed headcount is due to be held next year), the registration of births and deaths was minimal for decades, and it's hard to find detailed documents.

In states like Bihar, this problem of low documentation is magnified. Home to 130 million but with a human development score similar to Haiti, Bihar is crucial to the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) hold on national power. So it isn't surprising that politics in India right now revolves almost entirely around the state's election later this year.

Even as the most populous state of Uttar Pradesh seemed to sour somewhat on the ruling BJP in the general election of 2024, Bihar has stayed solid. The BJP won three-quarters of its constituencies, the same proportion it did in 2014. The party needs to demonstrate it still has a chokehold on politics there. The opposition alleges that, to eke out the win it needs, the ruling party is misusing government machinery—including through voter suppression.