“When I came to know that I was dead in the ECI’s records, I was shocked. Not because I fear death, but because I imagined I would be cut off from all welfare schemes,” says 41-year-old Mintu Paswan, a Dalit driver from Bihar’s Arrah district. 

His name was deleted from the draft electoral rolls prepared by the Election Commission of India (ECI) in the first phase of the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise.

Paswan’s ordeal is not an isolated case. He was one of four people brought to the Supreme Court yesterday, 12 August. Another woman from Paswan’s area was allowed entry alongside him. Others were asked to remain outside the court.

Meanwhile, Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi earlier today, 13 August, met with another seven ‘dead’ men and women from Radhopur, the constituency RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav hails from.

And these stunning happenstances all go to justify the deep unease that has been spreading across Bihar since the SIR began.

The issue goes far beyond the ‘right to vote’ at this point. For Bihar’s welfare-dependent rural population, being struck off the rolls can mean losing access to government benefits, food rations, pensions and other rights guaranteed by the Constitution.

Ironically, Paswan’s did have his name in the ECI’s voter list as recently as January 2025. But in the new draft list, it is missing.

When he with the help of the CPI(ML) activists approached the district administration for clarification, he discovered the bizarre reason — he had been marked “dead”.

“What troubles me most is that neither the booth-level officer (BLO) nor anyone from the local administration ever came to verify. Then who declared me dead and why?” he asks.