The Election Commission of India (ECI) has refuted claims made by Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge regarding the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Bihar, calling them "misleading". The controversy arose from the ongoing revision of voter lists in Bihar ahead of the assembly elections.

Kharge alleged that the voter verification drive would exclude millions of voters, particularly those from poor and marginalized communities, by mandating the submission of documents. He further accused the BJP and RSS of conspiring to "crush democracy" by denying voting rights. These remarks followed newspaper advertisements issued by the EC, which Kharge interpreted as suggesting that document submission was no longer necessary.

The ECI clarified that there has been no change in the SIR guidelines and reiterated that while submitting the filled enumeration form by July 25 is mandatory, supporting documents can be submitted later during the claims and objections period. The Commission emphasized that the rules remain as per its June 24 order and are aimed at including, not excluding, genuine voters. The EC stated Kharge's claim that documents are "no longer required" was misleading.

The ECI's June 24 order stated that only those whose forms were received before July 25 would be included in the draft rolls, which are to be published on August 1. Detailed guidelines published with the order specified that electors would need to submit forms with documents during the house-to-house enumeration phase or by July 25. The poll body has now clarified that Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) can obtain documents from electors whose names appear in the draft rolls even during the claims-and-objections phase, which runs from August 1 to September 1.

Several parties of the INDIA bloc and NGOs have moved the Supreme Court seeking quashing of the Election Commission's order, claiming it violates the Constitution.

The ECI announced the completion of the initial phase of Bihar's electoral roll revision. According to the ECI, 1,69,49,208 forms—21.46% of Bihar's total 7.90 crore enrolled electors—had been collected as of 6 PM on July 6. Additionally, 7.25% of these forms have already been uploaded on ECINET. The Commission has emphasized that the SIR is being implemented smoothly with active cooperation from voters and that there has been no change in the instructions issued on June 24, contrary to rumors on social media.