Bihar poll officials reject Rahul Gandhi’s claims on voter deletion

Gandhi highlighted their cases during his ongoing state-wide ‘Voter Adhikar Yatra’, which began on August 17.

Election authorities in Bihar on Tuesday refuted allegations by Congress MP Rahul Gandhi, who shared videos on X of two villagers — Subodh Kumar of Nawada and Ranju Devi of Rohtas — claiming that their names were deleted during the special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in the poll-bound state.

Congress MP Rahul Gandhi with Bihar LoP Tejashwi Yadav during the ‘Voter Adhikar Yatra' in Bihar’s Aurangabad on Monday. (Photo from X)

Gandhi highlighted their cases during his ongoing state-wide ‘Voter Adhikar Yatra’, which began on August 17.

Nawada district magistrate Ravi Prakash, in a post on X, called Kumar’s allegation “baseless and untrue”, stating that his name was never recorded in the electoral roll. In Gandhi’s video, Kumar, a farmer, alleged that his name was struck off the electoral rolls despite him having voted in the 2025 Lok Sabha elections, where he also acted as a polling agent.

Prakash clarified that Kumar’s name did not feature in the Warisaliganj constituency’s rolls — in the 2024 summary revision, the 2025 supplementary list, or the August 1 draft. While other family members were transferred between polling stations 9 and 10, Kumar’s name was absent throughout. He added that Kumar’s name never appeared in the deleted electors’ list displayed at booths under Supreme Court orders.

Although present when the booth-level officer affixed the list, Kumar did not file any objection or Form-6 request despite being asked to do so. “If he submits Form-6 with the required declaration, his name will be included as per rules,” Prakash said.

Meanwhile, the electoral registration officer of Rohtas’ 207-Chenari constituency rejected claims by Ranju Devi, who alleged in Gandhi’s video that her family’s names were deleted from the draft rolls published on August 1.

The officer’s inquiry confirmed that eight family members were listed at booths 342 and 343. Later, television channels showed Devi admitting she had been misinformed by her ward secretary, who wrongly told her their names were missing from the voter list during the SIR exercise.