Declared Dead but Sipping Tea with RaGa: Voters in Bihar Challenge EC’s Records

In a curious twist of electoral irony, seven voters in Bihar—alive and well—shared tea with Congress leader Rahul Gandhi today, even as the Election Commission’s Special Internal Roll (SIR) continues to list them as “deceased.”

The affected voters—Ramikbal Ray, Harendra Ray, Lalmuni Devi, Vachiya Devi, Lalwati Devi, Punam Kumari, and Munna Kumar—reside in Raghopur, the constituency of RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav. Despite completing all necessary paperwork to remain on the SIR, their names have been inexplicably removed from the rolls.

The Election Commission has not made public the list of voters marked as dead, migrated, or otherwise removed. Earlier, it had asked Rahul Gandhi to substantiate his allegations of “vote theft” with documentary evidence or issue a public apology. Ground teams identified these seven individuals only after informal access to internal EC records across two to three polling booths. Analysts note that these seven voters are likely only a small portion of those removed without justification in the region.

Observers suggest that such discrepancies go beyond mere clerical errors, pointing instead to potential systematic disenfranchisement. With similar irregularities recently reported in Bangalore, concerns are mounting over the accuracy and integrity of the SIR exercise in Bihar. When living voters are wrongly classified as deceased, it casts a shadow over the credibility of the electoral process itself.

The issue follows Rahul Gandhi’s August 7 press conference in Karnataka, where he alleged large-scale manipulation of voter lists in the Mahadevapura Assembly constituency. Gandhi claimed that over 100,000 votes were “stolen” through duplicate entries, invalid addresses, and mass registrations at single locations with no real residents. He also presented a document, purportedly from the EC records, marked to support his claim.

In response, the Karnataka CEO noted in a letter dated August 10 that the voter in question, Shakun Rani, denied voting twice, and the document presented by Gandhi was not issued by a polling officer, raising doubts about its authenticity. Gandhi has been asked to submit all supporting documents so a formal investigation can proceed.

Congress’ internal analysis reportedly suggested the party was positioned to win 16 Lok Sabha seats in Karnataka but lost seven unexpectedly, triggering Gandhi’s probe into alleged “vote chori.”

The Election Commission reiterated on Saturday that Gandhi still has time to respond to notices from both the Karnataka and Haryana CEOs. Officials warned that failure to provide evidence would leave him with only one recourse: publicly apologizing for making what the EC considers “false” allegations about the voter lists.

Also Read: EC Gives Rahul Gandhi Fresh Ultimatum: Submit Proof of ‘Vote Theft’ Claims or Apologise