New DelhiJul 23, 2025 16:46 IST
First published on: Jul 23, 2025 at 16:46 IST
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THE JD(U) MP from Banka in Bihar, Giridhari Yadav, is known to speak his mind. On Wednesday, he broke ranks with his party and its ally BJP to criticise the Election Commission’s (EC) ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Bihar just ahead of the Assembly elections, referring to it as a “Tughlaqi farman (ill-conceived diktat)”. In an interview with The Indian Express, Yadav speaks on the issues with the SIR and its potential outcome. Excerpts:
* The Opposition is protesting against the SIR in Bihar. How do you see it?
My first point is there is very little time given by the EC for such a humongous exercise. This is a time for farming in Bihar, people are busy with agricultural work. But you are making them run around for documents. This is also a time when parts of the state face floods. Villages get washed away. These people struggle to get their lives together. It is a bad time to do such an exercise.
The EC is saying there is online provision (for filling the forms). But many of the people in Bihar are unlettered. They migrate out of the state to earn a living and are forced to live like animals. How will they do this online? It has taken me 10 days to get my own documents in order. My son is in the United States. The EC should have given at least six months to complete this exercise.
* You represent Banka. What are people in your constituency saying?
People are complaining about the bureaucratic hurdles they are facing and what a pain it is to get documents. At many places officials are asking for bribes, the people in my constituency have told me.
* What do you think will be the outcome of the exercise? Do you think genuine voters will be left out?
I don’t know. But I do know that people are facing problems. Any government or constitutional authority is there to make life easier for people, not to complicate it further. It has been a year since the Lok Sabha polls. What was the EC doing till now? Throughout the year, names have been added to the voter list and now you are saying you will conduct an intensive revision. This exercise could have been taken up right after the Lok Sabha polls. All this creates doubt.
* What kind of doubt? Do you doubt the EC’s intentions?
All I am saying is more time should have been given. The EC should listen to all stakeholders. Before carrying out such a massive exercise, all political parties should have been consulted.
* Your party is officially supporting the SIR. But you are taking a different view.
This is my personal view. I am not expressing the party’s views. As a representative of the people, it is my duty to express the problems being faced by the people. Only today I raised a question in the House over the paucity of trains in Bihar. In 11 years of (NDA) rule, the Ministry of Railways has not added a single train on the Patna-Mumbai and Patna-Delhi routes. Hasn’t Bihar’s population increased in this period? People are forced to travel in miserable conditions on trains because there aren’t enough trains.