‘B-team of BJP’? Jairam Ramesh flags irregularities in Bihar electoral roll

Congress General Secretary in charge of Communications, Jairam Ramesh, on Saturday alleged irregularities in the final electoral roll after the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the list in Bihar.

Ramesh cited media reports claiming that 247 voters were listed in a single household and that one person’s name appeared three times on the same polling booth. He accused the Election Commission of acting at the behest of the ruling party, calling it the BJP’s “B-team.”

Sharing a post on X, Ramesh said, “The Election Commission has orchestrated the entire SIR drama at the behest of the BJP. Reports from across Bihar confirm the sole purpose of the process is to provide political advantage to the BJP and its allies.”

He questioned Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, demanding an explanation for the alleged anomalies, including the repeated entries and unusually large households. Highlighting that about 47 lakh voter names were deleted after the SIR, exceeding the victory margin in some constituencies, he added, “The Election Commission belongs to the entire country and should not appear as a puppet of the ruling party.”

Ramesh also warned that the perceived political bias and lax functioning of the Election Commission could harm India’s democracy and its international image.

The Election Commission recently published the final electoral roll for the Bihar assembly elections following the SIR exercise. The final list contains 7.42 crore electors, down from 7.89 crore as of June 24. According to an ECI press release, 65 lakh voters were removed from the draft list, 3.66 lakh ineligible electors were deleted, and 21.53 lakh eligible electors were added, bringing the total to 7.42 crore.