‘The Same Voter List Elected PM Last Year’: Migrant Workers Amid EC's Bihar Haul

Migrant workers from Bihar race against time as the EC's voter verification deadline nears on 25 July.

As EC conducts voter verification drive in Bihar, many migrants from the state continue to wait for daily work at Labour Chowk near Okhla Head, Delhi.

(Photo: Maaz Hasan/The Quint)

Arvind Kumar migrated from Bihar's Madhubani to Delhi in search of work four years ago. Although he knew how to drive, he didn’t have a licence, and to apply for one, he needed an ID with a Delhi address.

The 27-year-old auto-rickshaw driver updated his Aadhaar to his current address in Pandav Nagar, East Delhi, where he lives as a tenant. He also got his PAN card issued on the same address.

Born in 1998, Arvind is a registered voter in Bihar. But now, he doesn’t have any government ID at his disposal that proves his residency there, and he fears his name may be deleted from the voter list.

Arvind Kumar, who migrated from Bihar in search of work, waits for passengers in his auto-rickshaw.

(Photo: Maaz Hasan/The Quint)

A month ago, the Election Commission of India (ECI) released a notification announcing a Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Bihar. "The objective of an intensified revision is to ensure that the names of all eligible citizens are included in the electoral roll so as to enable them to exercise their franchise; no ineligible voter is included in the electoral rolls; and also to introduce complete transparency in the process of addition or deletion of electors in the electoral rolls," the notification stated.

The last date for submitting enumeration forms for verification is 25 July, after which the draft list will be released by the ECI on 1 August. 

'I Can't Afford to Travel Back to Bihar'

Bihari migrants like Arvind are now racing against time.

"I found out about the process (SIR) just a few days ago. I’ve sent my Aadhaar and PAN card to a local school teacher in Madhubani who’s helping people in our locality fill out the enumeration forms. The teacher said he’d call me if he needed any other documents," Arvind told The Quint as he waited for passengers under a Delhi Metro flyover.

Even though Arvind has submitted his Aadhaar and PAN cards, he’s unsure if they will be enough to prove his residency—both are registered to his Delhi address, and, these ID proofs are not among the 11 documents listed by the ECI for the electoral revision process.

Living outside the state, many migrants worry their names could be struck off the electoral roll — not due to ineligibility, but because they are unable to complete the verification process from afar.

(Photo: Maaz Hasan/The Quint)

The only proof of residence that Arvind has is his matriculation certificate from Bihar Board, but that too is kept back home in Madhubani.

"I found out from YouTube that the verification can be done online as well. I tried doing it, but I don’t have all the required documents with me here. Also, since I was born between the ECI’s specified date range of 1987 and 2004, I need to submit my parents' ID proofs too. Getting everything in order isn’t possible from here, and I can’t go to Bihar for it. I’m a daily wager... I can’t afford to lose wages or spend on travel for the ECI’s process."

Arvind Kumar, auto-rickshaw driver In Delhi From Bihar

'The Same Voter List Was Used to Elect PM Last Year'

Migration has long been a part of life in Bihar. Living outside the state, many worry their names could be struck off the electoral roll—not due to ineligibility, but because they are unable to complete the verification process from afar.

Another migrant Shaikh Baidullah, a painter who hails from Bettiah in Bihar's West Champaran district, too, says he can't afford to go home physically and do the due process.

"We are four brothers—two of us are in Delhi, and the other two work in the Middle East. Back home in our village, only my father and the wife of one of my brothers live. They can’t fill the enumeration forms on our behalf, and I don’t have all the documents needed to fill the form online from here either," he told The Quint.

Shaikh Baidullah, a resident of Bettiah in Bihar, is among the many migrant workers from the state who are currently away during the ECI's ongoing voter verification drive.

(Photo: Maaz Hasan/The Quint)

When asked why he couldn’t go for the verification, Shaikh told The Quint that he lost his mother to cancer in October 2024. The family is still struggling to recover, not just from the emotional loss, but also from the financial burden of the treatment, which left them in debt.

"You know the kind of people who gather at Labour Chowk—we’re the ones who don’t have work. We stand there every day, hoping someone will offer us a job. Those who have steady work don’t need to come here. I haven’t found any work for the past few days, and so I am here. Right now, my only priority is somehow repaying the debt. Getting the ECI's verification done just isn’t possible for me," said Shaikh as he waited to find an odd job at Delhi's Okhla Head.

Shaikh questioned both the timing and credibility of the verification process.

"I don’t understand why the ECI wants to carry out this exercise in such a short span of time when the Bihar elections are just around the corner. And I also don’t understand—how is the same voter list, which was used to elect the Prime Minister of India just last year in the general elections, is suddenly considered dubious today?"

He further added that even if some names in the voter list are believed by the authorities to be of illegal immigrants—which isn’t even confirmed—the bigger concern is how they were allowed to enter in the first place.

"Where were the authorities when these people allegedly arrived?" he asked, adding that it is unfair that Bihar's 8 crore voters are now being subjected to random scrutiny "because of a few suspected entries and a poorly planned decision".

'We Don't Know if Aadhaar Will Be Enough'

Bihar ranks second only to Uttar Pradesh in the number of people who have migrated across the country, many driven by a lack of job opportunities at home. According to the 2011 Census data, a total of 74.54 lakh migrants from Bihar live across 34 states and UTs. In Delhi, that stood at 11.07 lakh.

Ashok Lavasa, former election commissioner of India, underscored the crisis now facing the migrant workers, saying: 

"The ECI has provided additional facilities to conduct the process online. But this still poses challenges for migrants living outside Bihar due to lack of access, limited awareness about the exercise, and the inability of many to upload documents."

Lavasa’s concerns is playing out for someone like Shree Prasad Ram, a cycle repair worker in Delhi’s Okhla Industrial Area and native of Madhubani district. Speaking to The Quint, he said he isn’t even sure which documents are required for the verification process. He only has his Aadhaar card, which he has already sent to his village via WhatsApp.

Shree Prasad Ram outside his rented house in Delhi's Old Jasola Village. 

(Photo: Maaz Hasan/The Quint)

“I was born in 1981, so I don’t think I’ll need any other proof,” he said. But like many migrants, he’s unaware of what documents are actually valid for this exercise.

He also told us that in Old Jasola Village, where he currently lives in Delhi, many Bihari migrants have similarly sent their Aadhaar cards to their villages, without knowing whether that would be enough.

There are over 7.89 crore voters in Bihar, and the ECI's decision to give only a month to them for verification has also drawn criticism. “The time given to electors for this process is insufficient. With such a short window, many are likely to face difficulties. This should not have been carried out in such haste,” Lavasa told The Quint.

"The fundamental question is: if a voter’s name is already on the electoral roll—added after due verification and submission of documents—then removing them merely because they couldn’t resubmit those documents within a short deadline, or because of procedural formalities, is unfair."

Ashok Lavasa

Meanwhile, the ECI in a press release on 17 July stated that 89.7 percent electors have submitted their enumeration forms to be included in the draft list to be published on 1 August.