After Bihar’s voter list controversy, Manipur may face a similar row amid ongoing President’s Rule, as sources confirm groundwork has begun for a Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls.
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MANIPUR: This time, in Manipur, the Election Commission of India (ECI) is getting ready to initiate a Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the state’s voter list. The timing has raised questions, especially since it follows the controversial revision in Bihar, a move that attracts strong criticism from opposition parties and democracy watchdogs alike.
Voter List Revision in Bihar
The voter list revision in Bihar, initiated just months before the state’s election, has sparked a nationwide debate. Accusations have been levelled that the revision is designed to disenfranchise minority and marginalised communities. Adding to the controversy is the Supreme Court’s ongoing scrutiny of the legality and conduct of this exercise.
Opposition voices argue that the exclusion of certain government IDs, including the Election Commission’s voter card, raised serious questions about the intent and fairness of the process. The court has since directed that Aadhaar, ration cards, and the EC’s ID be accepted for re-verification.
Manipur
Amid the Bihar controversy, signs of a similar process emerging in Manipur have started to show. Sources in the state’s Chief Election Officer’s office have confirmed that groundwork for a Special Intensive Revision has begun, despite Manipur’s next scheduled assembly election being in 2027.
But Manipur’s case is more complex.
The state has been under President’s Rule since February 2025, following months of ethnic violence and the resignation of Chief Minister N Biren Singh. The Union Home Minister Amit Shah recently moved a statutory resolution in Parliament to extend this until February 2026, just a year before the expected state election.
Critically, the Manipur Legislative Assembly has been suspended, not dissolved. If it is not reinstated within six months of the extension, an early election could be triggered. This scenario would drastically reduce the timeline for completing any voter list revision, a move that could provoke public unrest similar to what has been seen in Bihar.
The core issue in both Bihar and Manipur is based on the fundamental question of electoral legitimacy: Who gets to vote?
In Manipur, this question is even more volatile due to rising demands for a National Register of Citizens (NRC). Activists and some political groups claim that illegal immigrants from Myanmar and Bangladesh are already present on the voter rolls and must be excluded.
The EC, during the Bihar SIR, admitted to identifying individuals from Nepal, Myanmar, and Bangladesh on voter lists, a revelation that has added urgency and controversy to the call for similar revisions in other states like Tripura.
Political parties in Manipur have been told that the qualifying date for the upcoming verification will be January 1, 2026, and house-to-house surveys are expected to begin soon. The Election Commission is likely to issue a formal notification for the Manipur SIR shortly after.
However, as the Supreme Court prepares to rule on the legality of the Bihar exercise, the Manipur revision could be challenged on similar grounds. If a truncated timeline forces the voter roll revision to be rushed or mishandled, public trust in the electoral process could take a serious hit.
Meanwhile, political temperatures are rising. In Tripura, the Tipra Motha Party, an alliance of the BJP, has already demanded a similar voter list revision exercise.
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