Election Commission orders fresh electoral rolls for 8 council seats

Patna: The Election Commission has ordered fresh preparation of electoral rolls for eight teachers’ and graduates’ constituencies in Bihar in view of upcoming vacancies in the state legislative council next year.According to the EC, eight lawmakers will retire on Nov 16 this year. They include Neeraj Kumar (Patna), Sarvesh Kumar (Darbhanga), Banshi Dhar Brajwasi (Tirhut), NK Yadav (Kosi) from graduates’ constituencies, and Naval Kishore Yadav (Patna), Madan Mohan Jha (Darbhanga), Sanjay Kumar Singh (Tirhut) and Afaque Ahmad (Saran) from teachers’ constituencies.“In light of the above vacancies, the electoral rolls of the above-mentioned graduates’ and teachers’ constituencies will be prepared afresh with reference to Nov 1, 2025, as the qualifying date in accordance with the prescribed schedule and after following the due procedure and guidelines,” the EC said in a letter to the chief electoral officer, Bihar.The EC clarified that Forms 18 and 19 for graduates’ and teachers’ constituencies had been slightly modified. It further stated that submission of Aadhaar numbers in the designated field is voluntary, and “applicant shall neither be insisted to provide the same nor his/her non-submission of the same be a ground for rejection of his/her application.” Officers were instructed to comply with the directive “scrupulously.”The order for fresh rolls comes even as the EC’s special intensive revision (SIR) of assembly rolls, launched in June, has already sparked controversy, with the matter reaching the Supreme Court.