Gopalganj sees max share of deletions, more women out

HT’s earlier analysis of the draft SIR roll was also the first to point out that there were no obvious patterns in the share of voter deletions

The Election Commission of India (ECI) published the final electoral roll for Bihar after the completion of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process on Tuesday. While the number of eligible voters in the 2025 assembly polls in the state can still change – additions/deletions can be made up to 10 days before the filing of nominations – the state has 74.2 million voters as of now. This is 4.7 million less than the number of electors on June 24 but 1.8 million more than the number of electors published in the draft SIR roll published on August 1. To be sure, the primary reason why the number of electors has increased between the electoral rolls published on August 1 and September 30 is not a reversal of deletions in the SIR process but the addition of 2.2 million new voters via the Form 6 route. The latest electoral roll has also deleted another 0.4 million “ineligible voters” from the draft list.

A comparison of district-wise elector numbers as on 24 June 2025, draft roll published on 1 August 2025 and the final list published on 30 September 2025 shows that there is not much change in district-wise ranking if one were to compare the deletion of voters pre and post SIR. (HT Photo)

A comparison of district-wise elector numbers as on 24 June 2025, draft roll published on 1 August 2025 and the final list published on 30 September 2025 shows that there is not much change in district-wise ranking if one were to compare the deletion of voters pre and post SIR. Gopalganj is still the district with the maximum percentage deletion in voters. The top five districts by share of voter deletions are still the same. By the latest ranking in descending order, they are Gopalganj, Kishanganj, Purnia, Madhubani and Bhagalpur. The list of five districts with the lowest percentage deletions has seen some change though. While Sheikhpura, Arwal and Nalanda figure in both August 1 and September 30 comparisons, Jahanabad and Rohtas have replaced Kaimur and Lakhisarai in the rankings based on voter rolls released on September 30. Once again, it is difficult to say exactly how these changes have come about – either new voters being added via Form 6 or some of the deletions in the earlier draft roll being reversed.

HT’s earlier analysis of the draft SIR roll was also the first to point out that there were no obvious patterns in the share of voter deletions – such as constituencies with high concentration of Muslim voters, or those won by the National Democratic Alliance or the Rashtriya Janata Dal-led alliance. These facts are unlikely to have changed in the latest data.

Another important fact that emerged from a comparison of voter rolls on January 1, 2025, the draft rolls published on August 1, and the final rolls published on September 30, is the fact that the exercise may have led to the deletion of more women voters than men. According to ECI data, sex ratio (women voters per thousand male voters) has fallen from 914 in the electoral roll as on 1 January 2025 to 893 and 892 in the electoral rolls published on August 1 and September 30. To be sure, both men and women voters have seen a decline in their numbers between the January 1 and September 30 electoral rolls, but the fall is larger in proportional terms for women voters.

As HT pointed out in an earlier analysis of the draft SIR roll published on August 1, a fall in the number of registered voters need not lead to an absolute fall in the number of votes polled in the forthcoming elections in Bihar.

Bihar had the lowest voter turnout among major states in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. If ECI’s claims about SIR deletions being genuine are indeed true, then one could see a higher absolute turnout leading to an increase in voting percentage despite the overall number of voters being reduced. The final verdict on the quality and accuracy of the new electoral roll will have to wait for the publication of the next census results.