The Supreme Court on Thursday allowed the Election Commission of India (ECI) to continue with its Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Bihar calling it a “constitutional mandate”.
The domicile certificate commonly used as a certificate to recognise the people having a proof of permanent residence has emerged as the most sought – after document in Bihar during the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral roll .
The Bihar cabinet on Tuesday decided that the existing 35% quota for women in government jobs will now be restricted to only permanent residents of the state, with the decision just months ahead of the crucial assembly polls coming amid a growing demand from jobseekers as well as political opponents for the implementation of a domicile policy in government jobs.
Defending the special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls under way in Bihar, Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar on Sunday (July 7, 2025) said that the Election Commission of India (ECI) had held extensive consultations with all political parties and “no one was satisfied with the current status of electoral rolls for one reason or other”.
Allies in governing NDA have backed EC’s ongoing special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Bihar, describing the exercise as “routine and necessary”.
The opposition INDIA bloc has strongly criticized the large-scale voter list revision underway in Bihar, terming it an act of “voter suppression.” On Wednesday, a delegation representing 11 parties from the alliance met with the Election Commission to raise their concerns.
The Election Commission has made it mandatory for new and existing voters to submit a self-attested declaration that they are Indian citizens, whether by birth or by naturalization, and furnish documentary proof of date and place of birth along with that of their parents, officials said on Wednesday, as a political controversy broke out over the EC’s decision to conduct a special intensive revision of the electoral rolls to weed out illegal immigrants ahead of the Bihar polls.
Bihar seems to have a penchant of being in the news be it owing to JP’s call of total revolution or the Bhagalpur blindings or the fodder scam. The state may.find itself in the news again soon post a new leader whose political party is part of the NDA coalition has thrown his hat in the ring for the chief minister’s post even as the state inches closer to election.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Thursday claimed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had agreed to hold a caste census ‘out of fear’ of the country’s deprived population, to which the opposition was lending its voice.
