India’s LoP Rahul Gandhi Shares Tea With Bihar’s ‘Dead Voters’; BJP Rebuts Rigging Charge, Top Court Backs SIR Process

India's Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi met Bihar voters allegedly declared “dead” in the draft roll after the state’s Special Intensive Revision (SIR); accused the Election Commission of disenfranchisement; BJP countered with charges over Sonia Gandhi’s voter registration before citizenship; Congress announced a state-wide protest yatra; and the Supreme Court described Bihar’s SIR as “voter friendly.”

Image Source: Mr. Nehr_who?

Sharing a video on X with electors omitted from the revised roll, Rahul Gandhi wrote that he had “never had the chance to have tea with ‘dead people’” and thanked the poll body for the “unique experience.” 

The Election Commission’s August 1 draft roll, published after the SIR exercise, lists 7.24 crore electors—down 65.6 lakh from the 7.9 crore registered before June 24. 

EC data attributes the reduction to 22 lakh dead electors, 36 lakh permanently shifted or untraceable, and 7 lakh duplicate registrations or non-submissions of enumeration forms.

Opposition MPs have protested in both Houses, alleging the revision is aimed at removing voters ahead of the assembly elections later this year. 

Rahul Gandhi and INDIA bloc leaders plan to launch a “Vote Adhikar Yatra” across Bihar from August 17 against the EC’s move.

The BJP rejected Congress’s allegations, with party IT cell chief Amit Malviya claiming Sonia Gandhi was on the rolls in 1980, three years before acquiring Indian citizenship, and linking Rahul Gandhi’s opposition to SIR with “regularising ineligible voters.” 

BJP leader Anurag Thakur alleged irregularities in multiple constituencies, including Rae Bareli and Wayanad, and called for the resignation of opposition MPs, accusing them of winning through “vote chori.”

जीवन में बहुत दिलचस्प अनुभव हुए हैं,
लेकिन कभी 'मृत लोगों' के साथ चाय पीने का मौका नहीं मिला था।

इस अनोखे अनुभव के लिए, धन्यवाद चुनाव आयोग! pic.twitter.com/Rh9izqIFsD

— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) August 13, 2025

Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera dismissed the claims and demanded that alleged evidence be handed over within 24 hours, also seeking the electronic voter list of Varanasi.

Meanwhile, the Supreme Court, hearing challenges to the June 24 EC decision to conduct SIR, said the process appeared “inclusionary” as it expanded accepted documents from seven in previous revisions to eleven in the current exercise. 

The bench held that electoral rolls cannot “remain static” and must be updated, disagreeing with arguments that the SIR lacked legal basis.

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