A 50-year-old man involved in the sand mining business was shot dead outside his home in Ranitalab area of rural Patna on Thursday, police said.

The victim, Ramkant Yadav, was attacked by unidentified armed people near his residence in Dhana village. He was rushed to the nearest government hospital but was declared brought dead, police added.

This comes days after Gopal Khemka, a well-known businessman, was shot dead outside his home in Patna on Friday night.

Talking to reporters, Patna City SP (West) Bhanu Pratap Singh said, “Police received information that Yadav was shot at by some unidentified persons at Dhana village on Thursday afternoon. Police reached the spot and took him to the nearest government hospital where he was declared brought dead”.

The SP said the body has been sent for post-mortem examination and forensic experts are assisting in the investigation.

“The exact motive behind the murder is not known. We have launched a manhunt to identify and arrest the assailants,” Singh added.

The Congress was quick to react to the incident, calling it a “worsening law and order situation” in Bihar.

Congress Legislature Party leader Shakeel Ahmad Khan said, “Yet another businessman in Bihar has been killed near his residence.”

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Samrat Chowdhary on Thursday said the Supreme Court allowing the Election Commission of India to continue with its Special Intensive Revision (SIR) was a welcome step and asserted that its implementation was necessary to ensure that only Indian citizens were enrolled.

Samrat Chowdhary is in Ranchi to attend the 27th Eastern Zonal Council meeting here, chaired by Union Home Minister Amit Shah.

The Supreme Court on Thursday allowed the ECI to continue with its SIR of electoral rolls in Bihar, calling it a “constitutional mandate”.

“We welcome the Supreme Court decision. No one interferes with the work of the Election Commission. We give suggestions. The Supreme Court is of the view that Aadhar card, PAN card and ration card could be considered in SIR,” Mr Chowdhary said.

He said it is clear that Aadhar details would have to be given as per the previous format.

The Bihar deputy CM added that the Constitution of India says that only an Indian citizen can be a voter.

Mr Chowdhury emphasised that the SIR drive should continue.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

The Election Commission of India (ECI) has expressed confidence that the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise in Bihar will be completed well ahead of the July 25 deadline, based on the progress recorded up to 6 P.M. on Tuesday.

According to the ECI, as of now, 3,70,77,077 Enumeration Forms amounting to 46.95 per cent of the total 7,89,69,844 (approximately 7.90 crore) electors in Bihar, have been collected since the launch of the exercise on June 24.

In the first two weeks, all 7.90 crore Enumeration Forms were printed, and over 97 per cent (7,70,44,990) have already been distributed to eligible electors. Furthermore, 18.16 per cent of the collected forms have been uploaded to the ECINET platform.

A significant number of prospective electors are choosing to submit their Enumeration Forms along with the required eligibility documents, as per the SIR order dated June 24.

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With 17 days still remaining, the focus now shifts to collecting the remaining 50 per cent of the forms. In just the last 24 hours (till 6 P.M. on Tuesday, July 8) as many as 82,78,617 forms were collected — representing 10.5 per cent of the total in a single day.

“If this pace continues, the collection phase could conclude well before the July 25 deadline,” the ECI statement said.

To accelerate the process, an additional 20,603 Booth Level Officers (BLOs) have been deployed, taking the total number on the ground to 77,895. These BLOs have already completed the first of their mandated three household visits, with the second round currently underway.

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In addition, nearly 4 lakh volunteers, including government officials, NCC cadets, NSS members, and others, are assisting the elderly, differently-abled, and vulnerable populations in filling and submitting the forms.

The administrative machinery is also fully mobilised, with Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) covering all 243 Assembly Constituencies and 963 Assistant EROs, 38 District Election Officers, and the Chief Electoral Officer of Bihar overseeing the process at the ground level.

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Recognised political parties, too, are playing an active role, the ECI statement said. District presidents of political parties have ramped up the appointment of Booth Level Agents (BLAs), with the current number standing at 1,56,626 — up from 1,38,680 at the beginning of the exercise. Political parties still have the option to appoint more BLAs under provision 25.2.1 of the Manual on Electoral Rolls.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

The Supreme Court is slated to hear on Thursday a clutch of petitions challenging the Election Commission’s decision to revise electoral rolls in poll-bound Bihar.

As per the causelist published on the website of the top court, a Bench of Justices Sudhanshu Dhulia and Joymalya Bagchi will take up the matter for hearing on July 10.

On Monday, the Justice Dhulia-led Bench agreed to urgently list the batch of pleas against the ECI’s order directing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Bihar after a battery of lawyers, including senior advocates Kapil Sibal, Abhishek Manu Singhvi, Gopal Sankaranarayanan and Shadan Farasat, mentioned it for urgent hearing.

Several petitions have been filed before the top court claiming that if the June 26 order issued by the poll body directing SIR is not set aside, it can “arbitrarily” and “without due process” disenfranchise lakhs of voters from electing their representatives, and disrupt free and fair elections and democracy — a part of basic structure of the Constitution.

In her petition, Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP Mahua Moitra apprehended that such a second revision of the voters list could be replicated in West Bengal and demanded the Supreme Court to restrain the Election Commission from issuing similar orders for the SIR of electoral rolls in other states of the country.

Ms Moitra, through her advocate Neha Rathi, contended that it is for the “very first time in the country” that such an exercise is being conducted by the poll body, where electors whose names are already there in electoral rolls and who have already voted multiple times in the past are being asked to prove their eligibility.

As per the plea, the SIR requirement asking voters to again prove their eligibility through a set of documents is “absurd”, since on the basis of their existing eligibility, most of them have already voted multiple times in the Assembly as well as general elections.

Amid the controversy, the ECI on Wednesday posted on X an excerpt from Article 326 of the Constitution of India, apparently to justify the ongoing SIR exercise in Bihar ahead of the ensuing Assembly elections.

“The elections to the House of the People and to the Legislative Assembly of every State shall be on the basis of adult suffrage; that is to say, every person who is a citizen of India and who is not less than twenty-one years of age on such date as may be fixed in that behalf by or under any law made by the appropriate Legislature and is not otherwise disqualified under this Constitution or any law made by the appropriate Legislature on the ground of non-residence, unsoundness of mind, crime or corrupt or illegal practice, shall be entitled to be registered as a voter at any such election,” quoted the poll body.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

The Election Commission of India (ECI) continues to face criticism from Opposition leaders over its voter list revisions, an exercise which former Chief Election Commissioner SY Quraishi had called the “real soft underbelly” of the institution.

As Bihar’s monsoon-drenched voter verification drive sparks controversy ahead of the assembly election scheduled later this year, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) MP Manoj Jha has taken the ECI to the Supreme Court, alleging systematic disenfranchisement of marginalised communities.

The Supreme Court is set to hear five petitions, including those from Manoj Jha, Mahua Moitra, Yogendra Yadav, and the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), on Thursday.

The ECI’s special intensive revision (SIR) – the first such exercise in Bihar since 2003 – has sparked outrage among Opposition parties, with the RJD leading the charge. Mr Jha told NDTV the process is a “dark spell for democracy,” questioning its timing, execution, and intent.

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“Why was this exercise not undertaken in the last 22 years? What consultations were held with political parties? Did the ECI conduct any feasibility study?” he said, adding there is a lack of stakeholder engagement, especially given that 22 per cent of Biharis work outside the state.

“Are you assuming a Bihari working in Surat is a voter of Surat? I got my Delhi voter identity card only after 15 years, despite holding a Bihar voter card throughout,” Mr Jha said.

With only 14.18 per cent of Bihar’s 7.9 crore voters submitting enumeration forms by July 5 – despite 87 per cent form distribution – Mr Jha warned of widespread exclusion. He pointed to the exclusion of Aadhaar and ration cards, widely held by Biharis, from the 11 accepted documents, arguing that this violated the Representation of the People Act.

The ECI’s June 24 order said only voter registration forms received by July 25 would be included in the draft electoral rolls, and voters must submit the documents. On Saturday, the ECI clarified that electoral registration officers (EROs) can collect documents from voters listed in the draft rolls during the claims-and-objections period from August 1 to September 1.

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“In the monsoon season, with massive migration and widespread documentation issues, this is an exclusionary and non-inclusive process,” he said, highlighting voters’ struggles in rural areas like Seemanchal and Nalanda.

The Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) estimates that nearly three crore voters, particularly from Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (SC/ST) and migrant communities, may lack the required documents.

Mr Jha dismissed the ECI’s claim of transparency, calling its dialogue with Opposition parties a “monologue.” He questioned the feasibility of the 25-day timeline, noting that the last such revision took 8-11 months.

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“With only four-five volunteers per booth, has the ECI checked their backgrounds? In elections where margins are 4,000-5,000 votes, even a few deletions can change the outcome,” Mr Jha said, and recalled unresolved issues with postal ballots in the Bihar elections in 2020.

The RJD has proposed alternatives like accepting Aadhaar and extending the timeline to ensure inclusion without compromising electoral integrity, emphasising that the burden of proving citizenship lies with the State, per the Supreme Court’s 1995 ruling in Lal Babu Hussein vs Electoral Registration Officer.

Political Motives And Eroding Trust

The RJD’s suspicions of political bias are fueled by the SIR’s timing – six months after the last summary revision and during the monsoon season, when rural access is limited.

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Mr Jha echoed Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge’s claim of a “BJP-RSS conspiracy” to suppress Dalit and minority votes, pointing to the ECI’s “collective opacity and confusion.”

The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, or RSS, is the BJP’s ideological mentor.

“The ECI claims it’s including young voters and removing ghost voters or illegal migrants, but where’s the evidence? Why rush this in 25 days unless there’s a pre-verified list with official stamps?” he said.

Mr Jha lamented what he called the erosion of trust in the ECI, once the “umbilical cord of Indian democracy” under figures like Sukumar Sen.

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“The ECI must hold a press conference and satisfy public concerns. Speaking through unnamed ‘sources’ is not what a constitutional body does,” the RJD MP said.

His party’s Supreme Court petition seeks to stop the SIR. Mr Jha expressed hope that the judiciary, which has “shed light before,” will intervene to protect voters’ rights. He also questioned the ECI’s logistics, asking, “Will the ECI provide train tickets for migrants? At least reserve sleeper class? There’s a complete lack of understanding of ground realities.”

Lawlessness In Bihar: Gopal Khemka Murder

Beyond electoral concerns, Mr Jha sharply criticised the Nitish Kumar-led government following the murder of businessman Gopal Khemka.

“This was not an isolated incident. Hardly a day passes without reports of dacoity, murder, or rape in Bihar. This is more than a breakdown of law and order – it’s a collapse of governance,” he said.

He questioned who truly runs Bihar, pointing to the chief minister’s “inaction” and the central government’s “silence”.

“Are BJP and Nitish Kumar partners in governance or partners in crime?” Mr Jha said, adding security is a right for all citizens and not a privilege for the rich.

Even with a special investigation team in place, Mr Jha said he doubts justice would be served without systemic reforms. If in power, the RJD would prioritise strengthening police accountability, increasing resources for law enforcement, and ensuring swift judicial processes, he said.

“Today, instead of the rule of law, we are seeing the rule of criminals in Bihar.”

Countering Communal Polarisation

Mr Jha also addressed the RJD’s stance on controversial calls for a “Hindu Rashtra” by figures like Baba Bageshwar, whom some RJD leaders have likened to divisive figures such as Ram Rahim.

“Plurality is the foundation of our existence, of [BR] Ambedkar’s vision. Communal polarisation goes against the spirit of the Constitution. We must not give legitimacy to such divisive agendas,” Mr Jha said, emphasizing the need to focus on pressing issues like unemployment and healthcare over divisive rhetoric.

Language-Based Violence: A Disturbing Trend

On the recent incidents of violence under the guise of cultural or linguistic protection, such as the assault on a shopkeeper by MNS workers in Maharashtra for not speaking Marathi, Mr Jha said, “Those unaware of history should remember the suffering of the 1960s. It was through dialogue that we emerged from that phase, but now we’re going backwards, fighting over language, religion, food habits, and imagined threats.”

He said he viewed languages as a “bond of sisterhood,” kept alive by people, not governments, and called for rejecting hierarchies that fuel division. Mr Jha criticised the state’s lenient response – detaining and quickly bailing out perpetrators – and argued it reflected a troubling political silence.

A Call for Action

As the RJD awaits the Supreme Court’s ruling on the SIR, Mr Jha said he remains steadfast in his commitment to protecting Bihar’s democratic and social fabric.

“Disenfranchisement on this scale can seriously damage democracy,” he said, and asked the ECI to prioritise transparency and inclusion.

On governance, he demanded accountability from the Nitish Kumar government and systemic reforms to restore safety. Above all, Mr Jha called for unity, warning that divisive agendas and unchecked criminality threaten Bihar’s pluralistic ethos.

“Our country cannot afford to regress,” he added.