ECI abusing its powers, should be fought politically, legally: Congress chief Chidambaram

Amid the raging row over the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls in Bihar, senior Congress chief P. Chidambaram on Sunday (August 3, 2025) alleged that the Election Commission of India is attempting to alter the electoral character and patterns of States, and asserted that this “abuse of powers” should be fought politically and legally. The former Home Minister mentioned the Bihar voter revision train is getting ‘curious and curious.’

While 65 lakh voters are at risk of being disenfranchised in Bihar, experiences of ‘including’ 6.5 lakh individuals as voters in Tamil Nadu is alarming and patently unlawful, Mr. Chidambaram mentioned in a put up on X. “Calling them ‘permanently migrated’ is an insult to the migrant workers and a gross interference in the right of the electorate of Tamil Nadu to elect a government of its choice,” the Rajya Sabha MP mentioned.

Election Commission of India publishes draft electoral rolls for Bihar following SIR

Why ought to the migrant employee not return to Bihar or his/her residence State to vote within the State Assembly election, as they often do, Mr. Chidambaram requested. “Does not the migrant worker return to Bihar at the time of the Chhath puja festival?” he mentioned.

“A person to be enrolled as a voter must have a fixed and permanent legal home. The migrant worker has such a home in Bihar (or another state). How can he/she be enrolled as a voter in Tamil Nadu?” Mr. Chidambaram mentioned.

“If the migrant employee’s household has a everlasting residence in Bihar and lives in Bihar, how can the migrant employee be thought-about as “completely migrated” to Tamil Nadu,” he additional requested. “The ECI is abusing its powers and attempting to alter the electoral character and patterns of States. This abuse of powers should be fought politically and legally,” Mr. Chidambaram mentioned.

The Opposition has been protesting in each Houses of Parliament in opposition to the SIR, alleging the EC’s train was geared toward “disenfranchising voters” in Bihar forward of the Assembly elections. They have been demanding a dialogue on the difficulty in each Houses of Parliament.