ECI Ropes In Panchayat’s ‘Banrakas’ To Promote Bihar Electoral Roll Revision Amid Row | Elections News

Last Updated:July 07, 2025, 19:19 IST

The poll body shared an image of actors Durgesh Kumar and Sunita Rajwa, portraying their characters “Banarakas” and “Kranti Devi”, respectively.

The Election Commission is leaving no stone unturned to to raise awareness about the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral roll in Bihar ahead of the upcoming Assembly elections.

The poll body is roping actors like Pankaj Tripathi and even using memes to encourage new registrations amid the political and legal storm over the decision.

On Monday, the poll body shared an image of actors Durgesh Kumar and Sunita Rajwa, portraying their characters “Banarakas” and “Kranti Devi”, respectively from the famous web series “Panchayat”, raising awareness about the enumeration.

In the image, both the characters are seen standing and asking, “Banrakas aur Kranti Devi ne toh apna prapatra bhar diya, kya aapne bhara? (Banrakas and Kranti Devi have filled their nomination forms, have you?)”

Earlier, the poll body issued a video clip featuring actor Pankaj Tripathi to raise awareness about the SIR drive.

In the video clip, Bollywood actor Tripathi can be seen saying, “We can’t stop people from thinking, but yes, we can definitely try to change your minds.”

Sharing the video clip on Sunday, Press Information Bureau (PIB) Patna wrote on X, “To vote, you need to fill out the form. Bihar Special Intensive Revision, 2025. Now, attach just any 1 of the 11 documents. Fill out the enumeration form to get included in the voter list. Scan the QR code and fill out the form online.”

Meanwhile, the SIR is being implemented smoothly at the ground level with the active cooperation of the electors, the ECI said.

The EC added that all voters are directly made aware through more than 77,000 BLOs and 4 Lakh volunteers as well as 1.5 lakh BLAs appointed by all political parties.

“In accordance with Article 326, the orders of SIR dated 24 June 2025 clearly enable all eligible electors to be included while excluding ineligible electors after verification by the concerned ERO,” the EC said.

“The initial phase of SIR, during which Enumeration forms were to be printed and distributed, is almost complete with the forms having been made available to all the electors who were available,” read a statement from the poll panel.

ECI also reiterated that SIR is being conducted as per the SIR instructions dated June 24, 2025, and there is no change in the instructions. As per instructions, draft electoral rolls that will be issued on 1 August 2025 will contain the names of persons whose enumeration forms are received.

The Election Commission’s decision to initiate a Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of Bihar’s electoral roll in the run-up to the assembly elections later this year has triggered major political controversy.

While the commission maintains that the revision is intended to enhance transparency and remove ineligible entries from the voter list, opposition parties have raised concerns, claiming that the move may lead to the exclusion of legitimate voters.

As the matter heads to the Supreme Court, the standoff between the poll body and opposition parties continues to escalate.

Amidst legal challenges, the ECI has indicated that the SIR of electoral rolls is on track and any extension of deadline is not being considered at this stage. “More than 1/5th of enumeration forms have come back within two days. At this rate, we might complete the exercise before time, so extension of deadline is not a question at the moment,” a top ECI official told CNN-News18.

The ECI, however, has given a concession of a few weeks for submitting supporting documents. Voters can submit documents at the claims and objection stage. This would give voters time till August to procure the documents. “After publication of draft electoral rolls, if any document is deficient, EROs can obtain such documents from the electors whose names appear in the draft electoral rolls, during scrutiny in the claims and objection period,” EC said.

Shobhit Gupta is a sub-editor at News18.com and covers India and International news. He is interested in day to day political affairs in India and geopolitics. He earned his BA Journalism (Hons) degree from Ben…Read More

Shobhit Gupta is a sub-editor at News18.com and covers India and International news. He is interested in day to day political affairs in India and geopolitics. He earned his BA Journalism (Hons) degree from Ben… Read More

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