Political Storm Erupts: Yogendra Yadav Warns of Deeper Disenfranchisement Beyond Initial 65 Lakh Deletions
PATNA, Bihar, India – August 2, 2025: Political analyst Yogendra Yadav is sounding the alarm about a potential crisis in Bihar’s electoral system. He says the recent removal of over 6.5 million names from the draft voter list could be just the tip of the iceberg. According to Yadav, a well-known critic of the Election Commission (EC), this is potentially a much larger scheme to disenfranchise voters. He made these comments on Friday, August 1, 2025, right after the draft list came out following a very controversial Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process. Yadav is calling for the whole thing to be scrapped immediately, calling it unconstitutional.
What’s This Revision All About?
The Election Commission of India (ECI) started this Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in Bihar back on June 24. The idea was to clean up the voter rolls. Basically, voters had to send in forms, either online or in person, to verify their info.
The ECI says the draft electoral roll now has about 72.4 million voters, which is way down from the roughly 79 million before this all started. The ECI explains that they removed 2.2 million names because those people had died, 3.6 million because they moved away or couldn’t be found, and 700,000 because they were registered in more than one place.
Yadav isn’t buying it. He points out that according to census data, Bihar has about 81.8 million adults, so the current voter count of 72.4 million just doesn’t add up.
Why Is Yadav So Worried?
In an interview, Yadav warned, The real trouble starts now. He’s concerned about a group of names on the draft list that the Booth Level Officer didn’t recommend for inclusion.
These people will face extra scrutiny, and Yadav thinks that anyone who doesn’t provide the right documents in the next month is likely to be removed from the list.
He fears that way more names could be cut. He says that even people who object to the process could have their names removed. People may still be eliminated on these three grounds. So 65 lakh is just the beginning, he stated.
Is the Election Commission Being Secretive?
Yadav’s main issue is what he sees as a lack of transparency from the ECI. He notes that the ECI hasn’t given political parties a detailed list of the 6.5 million deleted names in a format that would allow them to compare it to the old list.
The list hides more than it shows, Yadav argues, adding that this isn’t how a constitutional authority should behave. Opposition parties, like the Congress party, agree. They accuse the EC of being politically biased.
Rahul Gandhi, a top Congress leader, even claims that the party has evidence that will expose vote theft. The issue has caused protests and disruptions in Parliament, with opposition MPs demanding a discussion.
What’s the Supreme Court Got to Do With It?
This whole situation has already landed in the Supreme Court of India. They’re hearing petitions challenging the SIR process. Groups like the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) argue that it’s unconstitutional and could disenfranchise tons of people.
The court has questioned the EC’s policy of not accepting Aadhaar cards and voter IDs as sufficient proof of identity. The Supreme Court has said it might step in if it finds evidence of en masse exclusion instead of en masse inclusion during the revision. The final hearing is set for August 12-13.
For now, people can file claims and objections to the draft list until September 1. The ECI is encouraging all eligible voters to check their names and register if they’re missing. The final voter list is expected on September 30, just before the Bihar assembly elections later this year.
