The Congress party has claimed that it submitted nearly 89 lakh complaints to the Election Commission (EC) in Bihar regarding errors in the state’s voter lists. However, Bihar’s Chief Election Officer (CEO) has said that the complaints were not filed in the correct format and process required by law.

In an official statement posted on X, the CEO explained that District Congress leaders had recently given letters to District Election Officers asking for the deletion of around 89 lakh names from the voter rolls. But, as per the Election Commission’s rules, any such objection can only be made through Form 7 under Rule 13 of the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960.

The CEO also clarified that only Booth Level Agents (BLAs) of political parties can file objections, and these must be submitted with a proper declaration. Without the prescribed format, objections cannot be accepted. The statement also said the figure of “89 lakh voters” mentioned by Congress was not verified.

The CEO added that Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) will make a decision only after going through the correct process, including affidavits and detailed scrutiny. The statement also pointed out that the Supreme Court’s order of August 22 requires all objections to be submitted strictly in the prescribed format.

Earlier, Congress leader Pawan Khera accused the Election Commission of not accepting complaints from Congress’s BLAs. He said Congress had quietly submitted 89 lakh objections, but later realised they were being ignored because officials insisted on taking complaints only from individuals, not party agents.

Khera also said Congress will win the upcoming Bihar elections, as people now understand that their voting rights are being taken away. Meanwhile, the EC confirmed it received 118 complaints from the CPI (ML) Liberation during the Special Intensive Revision of 2025. Out of these, 103 were about removing names and 15 were about adding new ones.