Did the SIR process decide Bihar’s election outcome? Data says “No”

The Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls became one of the most contentious issues in Bihar’s 2025 Assembly elections , with accusations and counter-accusations flying between the ruling National Democratic Alliance and the opposition Mahagatbandan. The Bharatiya Janata Party and its allies welcomed the process as necessary to remove “infiltrators” from voter lists, while the Congress and Rashtriya Janata Dal decried it as systematic disenfranchisement—part of what they termed “vote chori,” or vote theft, alleging collusion between the Election Commission of India and the ruling BJP to manipulate electoral rolls in the latter’s favour.

The controversy wasn’t confined to campaign rhetoric. The SIR process required multiple Supreme Court interventions , including orders t