In Indian eastern state of Bihar, a storm is brewing over the right to vote.
The spark?
A bizarre entry in the 2023 electoral roll for Varanasi’s Municipal Corporation, where one Ramkamal Das is listed as the father of 48 sons – all living under the same roof in the Shankuldhara area of Bhelupur ward, with 13 of them born in the same year and all miraculously aged 37.
A number of “fact-checking” groups also confirmed authenticity of the image of the electoral roll.
When images of this electoral roll went viral, they ignited a firestorm of outrage, raising questions about the integrity of India’s voter lists and triggering nationwide protests led by opposition parties. The demonstrations, marked by the detention of prominent leaders like Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, have cast a spotlight on a contentious electoral roll revision in Bihar, where elections loom in November 2025.
A viral anomaly sparks outrage
The Varanasi electoral roll anomaly was no mere clerical error it became a symbol of deeper issues in India’s electoral system. Social media platforms buzzed with disbelief and anger as images of the document circulated, showing Ramkamal Das’s improbable family of 48 sons. For many, it was evidence of systemic flaws, possibly even deliberate manipulation, in the voter registration process. The controversy quickly snowballed, with opposition parties seizing the moment to challenge the Election Commission of India’s (ECI) ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of Bihar’s electoral roll, affecting nearly 80 million voters.
“This fight is not political but for saving the constitution,” declared Rahul Gandhi, the opposition leader and Congress MP, after being briefly detained by police during a protest in New Delhi on August 11, 2025. Speaking to reporters, he added, “The truth is before the entire country.” The demonstration, which saw over 200 lawmakers and supporters march from Parliament towards the ECI office, was halted by police barricades, leading to the detention of dozens, including Gandhi and his sister, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra. The opposition’s rallying cry: the revision threatens to disenfranchise millions, particularly the poor and marginalised, in a state where literacy rates are among India’s lowest.
The stakes in Bihar
Bihar, a crucial electoral battleground, has long been a political flashpoint. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) governs the state only through coalition partnerships, making the upcoming November elections pivotal for the balance of power in India’s Parliament. The ECI’s revision, which requires strict documentation like birth certificates, passports, or matriculation records, has raised alarms among critics who argue it could exclude vulnerable groups, especially Muslims, Dalits, and tribal communities, who often lack such paperwork. Notably, the widely used Aadhaar card, a biometric-linked identity, is not accepted as proof for the revision, further complicating the process for many.
The opposition, led by the Congress and its allies in the INDIA bloc, has labelled the exercise “institutionalised chori [theft]” aimed at denying the poor their voting rights. Rahul Gandhi last week accused the ECI of orchestrating a deliberate scheme to suppress voters, drawing parallels to alleged manipulations in recent Maharashtra elections. The INDIA bloc estimates that over 6.5 million voters, predominantly from marginalised communities, risk being struck off Bihar’s rolls, with some projections suggesting up to 10 million could be affected nationwide if the revision is replicated across India’s 1.4 billion population.
ECI’s defence and BJP’s backing
The ECI has staunchly defended the SIR, calling it a “routine update” to ensure electoral integrity by removing deceased, migrated, or duplicate voters and preventing the inclusion of “foreign illegal immigrants.” According to the commission, 49.6 million voters registered in a 2003 exercise are exempt from additional documentation, leaving approximately 30 million others potentially vulnerable. Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, in a statement on 24 July 2025, questioned whether the ECI should “pave the way for fake votes” by yielding to protests, insisting that the process is transparent and inclusive.
The BJP, meanwhile, has thrown its weight behind the revision, arguing it is essential to update voter lists and remove fraudulent entries, particularly those of undocumented Muslim immigrants from neighbouring Bangladesh. The party has dismissed the opposition’s protests as a “well-thought-out strategy” to create anarchy, as reported by NDTV. However, critics point to a troubling precedent: a 2019 citizenship list in Assam, which left nearly 2 million people, many of them Muslims, at risk of statelessness, with some facing detention as “foreigners.” The fear is that Bihar’s revision could replicate this exclusionary outcome, disproportionately targeting minorities.