Claim That Bihar Added 3 Lakh Voters After SIR and That All 7.45 Crore Voted is False

The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) has emerged as the clear winner in the 2024 Bihar Assembly elections. Meanwhile, a claim is circulating on social media alleging that the number of voters in Bihar suddenly increased by nearly 300,000 between October 6 (7.42 crore voters) and November 10 (7.45 crore voters), despite Election Commission chief Gyanesh Kumar having already stated 7.42 crore voters in the final voter list.

Sharing the video of Gyanesh Kumar, Ranvijay Singh wrote, “How did 3 lakh voters increase in the Bihar elections? Day of election announcement on 6 October, there were 7.42 crore voters. After voting (11 November), the figure increased to 7.45 crore voters. The Chief Election Commissioner himself stated in a press conference that the total number of voters in Bihar is 7.42 crore. So how did it become 7.45 crore voters after voting?”

बिहार चुनाव में 3 लाख वोटर कैसे बढ़े?

• चुनाव घोषणा का दिन (6 October): 7.42 करोड़ वोटर
• वोटिंग के बाद (11 November): 7.45 करोड़ वोटर

खुद ज्ञानेश जी ने प्रेस कॉन्फ्रेंस में बताया कि बिहार में कुल वोटर 7.42 करोड़ हैं.

फिर वोटिंग के बाद 7.45 करोड़ वोटर कैसे हो गए? pic.twitter.com/z9MH992N7W

— Ranvijay Singh (@ranvijaylive) November 14, 2025

Wg Cdr Anuma Acharya asserted, “The figure of 7.42 crore voters was given on the Election Commission of India (ECI) website after the SIR initially, which has been increased to 7.45 crore in the press release of November 12. That means more than 2 lakh voters have been added on their own. The frenzied anchors are not willing to listen to the discussion of this valid question and are diverting the conversation in another direction. This anomaly present on the ECI’s official website should be known to people right at the beginning of the counting of votes. All the channel’s anchors are in a frenzy and are not paying any attention to the official discrepancy between the information after ECI’s SIR and the press release of November 12.“

The claim was also shared by other handles likes Adv. Vijay Singh, Qari Sohaib, and Manish Kumar Yadav.

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Fact Check

In our fact-check, we found an official press note issued by the Election Commission of India (ECI) on September 30, 2025. It lists the voter turnout for Bihar after the successful completion of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR).

The total number of voters in the final voter list as of September 30 is 7.42 crore. According to the data, the initial voter count on June 24, 2025, was 7.89 crore. However, during the SIR process, 65 lakhs names were deleted due to death, migration, errors, and other reasons. On August 1, 2025, the draft count was updated to 7.42 crore, removing 3.66 lakh voters and adding 21.53 lakh fresh voters under Form 6, bringing the total official count to 7.42 crore.

Next, we found a press note from the Election Commission dated November 11, 2025. The first phase recorded a voter turnout of 65.08%, with a female voter turnout of 69.04% and a male voter turnout of 61.56%. According to the data, a total of 3.75 crore voters were eligible to vote in this phase. The Election Commission had set up 45,341 polling stations for the first phase.

Voter participation was significantly higher during the second phase, with a total voter turnout of 68.76%. Once again, female voters outperformed male voters, with a turnout of 74.03%. The final tally for both phases included a total of 74,526,858 voters, of whom 66.91% exercised their votes. If 66.91% of 74,526,858 people voted, then about approximately 49,865,921 people voted which is 4.99 crore.

Note: The screenshot below shows poll participation in percentage terms. Out of the total 74,526,858 electors who were eligible for voting, 66.91% people voted.

Note: Below the highlighted figure shows that there were 3,75,13,556 electors in phase 1 and 3,70,13,556 electors in phase 2, making a total of 74,526,858 electors who were eligible for voting. This figure represents the number of people eligible to vote, not the total number of people who voted.

In the September 30 press note, we found that the section detailing the SIR stated that if an eligible person still wishes to have their name added, they can apply up to 10 days before the last date for filing nominations for the election. This means that if someone is eligible to vote but their name is not yet on the electoral roll, they can still apply for inclusion and submit Form 6. However, this must be done 10 days before the last date for filing nominations, which was October 20, 2025.

We also found an ECI press conference from October 5, 2025, in which at 35:06 minutes, Gyanesh Kumar said that there is still time from September 1 until 10 days before the last day of nomination. If any person or any political party feels that any eligible voter has been left out or any ineligible voter’s name is in the voter list, they can submit their claims and objections, and this will be resolved at the ERO level. After the nomination process is completed, the list is then frozen until the election is over.

In conclusion, the viral claim that the number of voters increased from 7.42 crore to 7.45 crore after SIR, and that 7.45 crore people actually voted is misleading and false. As verified, 7.42 crore voters were eligible as of September 30, and this figure increased to 7.45 crore after names continued to be added to the voter list until October 10, which was ten days before the last date of nomination. This 7.45 crore figure represents the total number of registered voters, not the number of votes polled. Out of these, only 66.91% cast their votes, amounting to approximately 4,98,65,921 voters.

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