Muslims disproportionately excluded from Bihar voter rolls, analysis reveals
New Delhi: An analysis of the Election Commission of India’s (ECI) “special intensive revision” of voter rolls in Bihar has revealed that Muslim voters were excluded at a significantly higher rate than their non-Muslim counterparts, raising serious concerns about systemic bias in the electoral process.
According to Kashmir Media Service, the ECI’s revision drive, conducted between June and September 2025, flagged over 6.5 million voters for scrutiny. Of these, around 1.6 million were Muslims, constituting 24.7 percent of the total flagged voters. However, after verification, Muslims made up 32.1 percent of the 323,000 voters who were permanently deleted from the rolls.
The data shows that while the deletion rate for non-Muslims stood at 4.18 percent, it rose to 6.38 percent for Muslims—over 50 percent higher. The disparity was most pronounced in Bihar’s Seemanchal region, where constituencies like Kishanganj, Araria, and Katihar recorded some of the highest exclusion rates.
In Kishanganj alone, the deletion rate for flagged Muslim voters was nearly double that of non-Muslims. Four Seemanchal constituencies—Araria, Sikta, Katihar, and Jokihat—accounted for over 14,000 deletions from the minority community.
Observers say the figures challenge the Election Commission’s claim of a “grand success” in ensuring an inclusive and error-free revision process. Analysts have urged the ECI to explain how a process meant to ensure fairness resulted in a disproportionately high disenfranchisement of one community, particularly concentrated in specific geographic pockets.
