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GUWAHATI, AUGUST 14: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday, August 13, 2025, interacted with seven voters from Bihar who were mistakenly declared “dead” by the Election Commission (EC) and struck off the state’s electoral rolls. Gandhi called it a “unique experience.
On X in Hindi, Gandhi posted, “There have been so many interesting experiences in life, yet I never had the opportunity to have tea with ‘dead people’. For this special experience, thank you Election Commission!” He also posted a video of the meeting in which he teased that the “dead” were unable to even buy tickets to travel in Delhi.
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The voters impacted—Ramikbal Ray, Harendra Ray, Lalmuni Devi, Vachiya Devi, Lalwati Devi, Punam Kumari, and Munna Kumar—are from Raghopur, which is the constituency of RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav. They claimed that they found their names were deleted during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR), which is a part of preparations for the forthcoming Bihar Assembly election in November.
The group, according to them, made an appearance at the Supreme Court on Wednesday to request restoration of their voting rights. The top court is already considering petitions against the SIR process, which has been criticized by opponents as causing wrongful disqualification of eligible voters.
The Congress party, in a statement, said the seven voters are just a few examples of the huge number affected, as most cases have been reported informally as the EC has not made public lists of people who have been marked as “dead” or “migrated.” Terming the episode as “political disenfranchisement in plain sight,” the party likened it to the recent “Vote Chori” fiasco in Bengaluru and accused the SIR exercise in Bihar of being tainted. This is not a clerical mistake,” the party’s statement said.
