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Bihar SIR controversy has sparked political turmoil in Delhi ahead of the Assembly elections. Opposition parties, including India bloc leaders, have protested against the SIR. Watch in-depth analysis by veteran journalist Manoj Tibrewal Aakash
Bihar SIR controversy sparks political turmoil
New Delhi: There is only one issue resonates in the Capital City Delhi right now, from Parliament to the streets: the Special Intensive Review (SIR) which is taking place in Bihar and the opposition parties protests against it. The leaders of India bloc the opposition alliance emerged from Parliament Houses Makar Dwar at approximately 11:30 am yelling slogans. Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Mallikarjun Kharge, Akhilesh Yadav, Dimple Yadav, Dharmendra Yadav, Sanjay Raut, DMK, RJD, CPI-ML and Aam Aadmi Party leaders took to the streets holding banners and posters.
Senior journalist Manoj Tibrewal Aakash said in his show 'The MTA Speaks' that 'Vote Chori band karo, Loktantra bachao and ECI - Janta ko jawab do' were the slogans on the posters. In Bihar they all claim that thousands of names are being arbitrarily removed from the voter list under the name of SIR. The majority of voters are from backward minority Dalit poor and laboring groups. The opposition claims it is a carefully thought-out plot to remove BJP-supporting segments prior to the elections.
Actually the entire controversy began in June 2025 when the Election Commission abruptly declared that Bihar would undergo a Special Intensive Revision. According to the Commission maintaining current and error-free electoral rolls is a routine procedure that happens periodically.
Booth level officers visit homes under SIR to confirm voter information remove duplicate names remove voters whose addresses have changed and add new eligible voters. According to the Commission this was required in Bihar this time around due to the states widespread urbanization and migration which has caused numerous errors and duplicate entries in the electoral rolls.
The commission asserts that 5.7 crore mobile users were notified via SMS that radio and newspaper ads were broadcast and that everyone was given the opportunity to prevent their name from being added or removed. The Commissions arguments however were not accepted by the opposition.
According to him the weaker sections will be the ones most impacted by the proposed removal of roughly 65 lakh names under SIR. The opposition claimed that low-income and illiterate individuals are being harassed because of documents and many are unaware that their names have been taken off the list. For this reason it is referred to as vote theft.
India bloc was marching from Parliament to the Election Commission today in order to deliver a memorandum. But in the middle the Delhi Police stopped them. According to police the rally had not been authorized. As a result Parliament Street was blocked off with numerous barricades police officers remained on duty and opposition leaders sat on a dharna.
The situation was tense at this time. As Dimple Yadav and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra were urging the workers to proceed Akhilesh Yadav abruptly climbed the barricade leaped it and proceeded. Many leaders were arrested and transported in buses to various police stations including Rahul Gandhi Priyanka Gandhi Vadra Mallikarjun Kharge Akhilesh Yadav Dimple Yadav, Dharmendra Yadav and Sanjay Raut.
The protest had an impact on how the Parliament operated as well. The Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha opposition MPs repeatedly interrupted proceedings by chanting about the SIR issue. The opposition persisted in their sloganeering despite the Speaker and Chairmans pleas for them to stop and ultimately the meetings of both Houses had to be adjourned.
During the chaos the Lok Sabha passed the Goa Scheduled Tribes reservation bill without discussion prompting criticism from the opposition. Gandhi explained to the media as he was being taken to police custody that this is not a fight of any party but a fight to protect the Constitution and the right of every citizen to one man one vote. The ruling party will similarly eliminate the opposition vote bank tomorrow in any part of the country if this process is allowed to continue unabated today he said.
Mallikarjun Kharge said India bloc would thwart the plot calling it a collusion between the BJP and the Election Commission. Abhishek Banerjee of the Trinamool Congress declared that they would support any party that opposes the SIR regardless of the state. Sanjay Singh of the Aam Aadmi Party added that his party is with the opposition on this issue and that the SIR is a plot to ruin democracy despite the fact that his party is no longer a part of India Block.
According to the Election Commission the sole goal of the SIR is to maintain and clean the electoral roll. No specific caste or community is the target of it. Before someones name is removed the Commission asserts that all required notices and opportunities are provided and the procedure is entirely transparent.
Additionally commission officials state that by completing the form and sending in the necessary paperwork a persons name can be added again even if it was accidentally removed. This explanation however does not satisfy the opposition. According to him the procedure is being used to exclude certain voters even though it appears to be transparent on paper. They believe that the BJP is using this as a tactic to gain an advantage before the assembly elections in Bihar.
What comes next is now the question. The opposition is getting ready to bring up this matter in the courts on the roads and in Parliament. The legitimacy and openness of the SIR are likely to be contested in petitions submitted to the Supreme Court or the Patna High Court. As the Bihar assembly elections approach the dispute is expected to intensify because the opposition wants to make it clear that the ruling party is targeting the right to vote.
According to political experts if this dispute continues it will affect not just Bihar but also national politics. A direct assault on the BJP and the Election Commission opposition unity over SIR and a plan to take to the streets are all going to make the election atmosphere more intense in the upcoming months. The fact that the SIR issue is now more than just a technical administrative procedure is evidence that the opposition will use it as a powerful political tool against the government.
More protests sit-ins rallies and court cases pertaining to the matter may occur in the coming weeks. Additionally the disagreement may become a significant polling issue in the general elections of 2029 as well as the assembly elections of 2025 if it is not settled.
