Bihar's Big Election: Did the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) Boost Voter Turnout? | India News
Updated on: Nov 07, 2025 02:04 am IST
The first phase of polling in 121 out of 243 assembly constituencies in Bihar has concluded, with a voter turnout of 64.66%. This is a significant increase from the 2024 Lok Sabha and 2020 assembly elections, which had turnouts of 55.33% and 55.55%, respectively. The 2025 election marks the highest turnout in Bihar since the 2010 state election, the earliest period with comparable data.
However, the impressive turnout raises questions about the impact of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise conducted by the Election Commission of India (ECI). The SIR aimed to revise the electoral roll, but it resulted in a net deletion of 3.07 million electors, a 4% reduction in the total elector count.
Despite this, the 121 constituencies that voted on Thursday saw a deletion of only 1.53 million voters, or 3.9%, compared to the 2024 Lok Sabha. This suggests that the SIR did not significantly reduce the number of actual voters.
The ECI reported a total of 37.51 million registered electors for these 121 constituencies, a 0.4% increase from the final SIR roll. This means that 24.3 million electors cast their votes, exceeding the 21.55 million who voted in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
The growth in electors and voters in assembly elections since 2010 supports the theory that the SIR did not eliminate a significant number of voters. Between 2010 and 2015, the number of electors increased by 21.7%, and voters by 30.5%. In the 2025 election, despite a 1.1% increase in electors, the number of voters increased by 17.1%, similar to previous growth rates.
This data suggests that the SIR primarily affected voters who were not active in previous elections, such as those who migrated or were registered in multiple places.
The ECI's lack of publication of voter identities further complicates the analysis, as it is difficult to ascertain the exact impact of the SIR. However, the overall trend indicates that the SIR did not significantly reduce voter turnout, and the increase in 2025 aligns with historical growth rates.
