Patna: As Bihar gears up for assembly elections later this year, tensions between the ruling alliance and opposition parties have intensified over the Election Commission’s Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral roll.
Opposition parties, particularly the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and the Congress, have voiced strong objections to the SIR exercise, alleging discrepancies and raising concerns about voter suppression. The issue has sparked protests both inside and outside the Bihar Assembly in recent weeks.
Amid the political row, Union Minister and Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular) leader Jitan Ram Manjhi launched a scathing attack on the opposition, suggesting their real motive is to retain names of deceased individuals in the electoral roll.
In a post on X (formerly Twitter), Manjhi said: “The real reason behind the opposition to SIR is electoral fraud. Parties like the RJD and Congress want the dead to return from the afterlife and vote in the Bihar elections as they did before. How long will this farce continue?”
चुनाव आयोग के SIR के विरोध का असल कारण इस तरह का फर्जीवाड़ा है ….
RJD,कांग्रेस सहित कई विपक्षी पार्टियां चाहती हैं कि जिनकी मृत्यु हो चुकी है वो मृत्यु लोक से आकर बिहार चुनाव में पूर्व की भांति वोट करे।
अब आप ही बताईए ऐसा ड्रामा कब तक चलेगा।@RJDforIndia @INCIndia @BJP4India… pic.twitter.com/76S2dGQLAZ— Jitan Ram Manjhi (@jitanrmanjhi) July 27, 2025
His remarks, laced with sarcasm, come at a time when opposition leaders have pledged to take their protests to the streets, accusing the Election Commission of acting under pressure from the Centre.
The SIR process is part of the Commission’s routine effort to clean and update the electoral roll ahead of polls. However, with the political rhetoric escalating, the issue has become yet another flashpoint in Bihar’s charged pre-election atmosphere.
