New Delhi [India], July 9 (ANI): The Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise being carried out by the Election Commission of India (ECI) in Bihar ahead of the upcoming assembly elections has invited massive criticism, with the opposition parties and leaders labelling the revision of voter list as 'backdoor NRC (National Register of Citizens)' alleging 'vote theft' while also prompting them to question the independence of the constitutional body.

However, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the centre, along with the double-engine government led by Janata Dal (United) president Nitish Kumar in Bihar, has accused the opposition of 'playing politics on the shoulders of wrongfully registered voters' while claiming that they were targeting the ECI to save themselves from political defeat.

The INDIA bloc on Wednesday held a massive 'Bihar Bandh' rally in Patna against electoral roll revision in the poll-bound state, where Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition (LoP) Rahul Gandhi alleged that the pattern of electoral manipulation seen in Maharashtra could be repeated in Bihar.

Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Tejashwi Yadav called the ECI a 'Godi Aayog' while accusing the NDA alliance of using the constitutional body to remove the name of 'Bihar's poor people' from the voter list.

Several senior leaders of the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) bloc, including CPI General Secretary D Raja, CPI (Marxist-Leninist) Liberation leader Dipankar Bhattacharya, Bihar Congress President Rajesh Ram, Kanhaiya Kumar, and Sanjay Yadav, also participated in the protest.

However, the Election Commission of India (ECI) has reported significant progress in Bihar's Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise, with over 57 per cent of enumeration forms collected in the first half of the designated period, reinforcing the commission's commitment to maintaining pure electoral rolls across the country.

Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar emphasised the commission's unwavering dedication to Indian voters, stating, 'The Election Commission of India was, is and will always be with the electors of India,' while highlighting the importance of clean electoral rolls in strengthening democratic processes.

The ongoing SIR exercise in Bihar has demonstrated remarkable momentum, with 4.53 crore enumeration forms collected by 6:00 PM today, representing 57.48% of the state's total 7.90 crore existing electors. This achievement comes with 16 days still remaining before the July 25, 2025, deadline, said ECI.

Reacting to the statements made by the opposition, BJP MP Ravi Shankar Prasad alleged that the opposition wants to do politics on the shoulders of people who registered themselves as voters 'wrongfully'.

Addressing a press conference, Ravi Shankar Prasad questioned the INDIA bloc over their opposition to the Election Commission of India's decision to revise the electoral rolls, asking whether they want 'to put those in the voter list who should not be there?'

'Do they want to put those on the voter list who should not be there? People who are intruders. Whether they are Rohingya or anyone else, they wrongly put their names on the voter list. So if it's working, honestly. So what's the problem with you? That's the sign. They want to do their politics on the shoulders of those who became voters wrongfully,' Prasad said.

BJP spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla accused Gandhi and Yadav of undermining constitutional institutions merely to shield their families and political interests.

Speaking to ANI, Poonawalla claimed that Rahul and Tejashwi are accusing a 'constitutional institution' in an attempt to save themselves from defeat.

'Look at how Rahul Gandhi and Tejashwi Yadav are today accusing the Election Commission of theft; one belongs to a 'chaara chor party' and the other to a 'zameen chor party'. Both are targeting the Election Commission just to save themselves and their families from political defeat. These are constitutional institutions,' he said.

BJP leader Shahnawaz Hussain said that the people of the INDIA Bloc and the Mahagathbandhan have made the Election Commission a 'soft target' and are continuously targeting it. He also alleged that since the 'Bihar Bandh' has started, the party workers have harassed people.

This came after Rahul Gandhi alleged 'vote theft' in the Maharashtra assembly elections and suggested that similar attempts were being made in Bihar ahead of the upcoming assembly polls.

Meanwhile, Congress leader Pawan Khera on Wednesday questioned the independence of the Election Commission amid revision of electoral rolls in Bihar, accusing it of acting in favour of the ruling party.

Taking to the social media platform X, Khera wrote, 'Babasaheb Ambedkar on the role of 'Central Election Commission' in protecting every Indian's Right to Vote.'

To support his argument, Khera, in a post on his X handle, quoted Babasaheb Ambedkar as saying, 'Franchise is the most fundamental thing in democracy.... To prevent injustice to those racially, linguistically, or culturally different from the dominant people in the Province, the election machinery must be under a Central Election Commission, so that no injustice may be done to any citizen in India.'

Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader Hannan Mollah also joined the opposition to the SIR exercise by the ECI and said that political parties had given a call for a 'Bandh' against the conspiracy to de-franchise more than two crore voters in Bihar.

Speaking with ANI, Mollah said, 'Along with the all-India Bandh, trade Union Bandh, Kisaan Bandh, the Bihar political party has given a special call for Bandh against the conspiracy to de-franchise more than two crore voters in Bihar,' adding, 'The voter list is yearly updated, but now it's being weaponised to question citizenship. Asking for the birth certificate of voters' parents is unconstitutional... This is a clear attack on universal Franchise.'

All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief Asaduddin Owaisi on Wednesday labelled the 'intensive revision' of the voter list in Bihar as 'backdoor NRC'. He said that the exercise serves to 'disempower the poorest people and paves the way for their exclusion from citizenship'.

He stated that the next step for those who fail to produce the required documents would be the denial of basic citizenship rights, including ration cards and the right to own agricultural land. (ANI)