Patna, July 17 (IANS) The Election Commission of India (ECI) has issued a categorical rebuttal to a viral video shared by YouTuber Ajit Anjum, calling it “false and misleading” amid ongoing political debate over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Bihar.

The video, which claimed that a Booth Level Officer (BLO) in Patna was seen filling out and signing several voter forms, sparked political reactions and public concern.

RJD MP Manoj Jha amplified the video on social media, asking the ECI to clarify whether such activities were also “misleading.”

Responding to Jha’s post on social media platform X, the ECI said, “The claims made in the video mentioned in this post are false. You may refer to the link provided below for more details.”

The link directed users to a detailed clarification by the District Administration of Patna.

The link posted by ECI was of District Administration Patna, which in a detailed statement said, District Returning Officer-cum-District Magistrate of Patna, Tyagarajan S.M., said a thorough investigation was conducted into the allegations raised in the video, and statements from the BLOs involved were recorded.

The statement clarified that Rani Kumari, the BLO deployed at polling centre number 226; Vijay Kumar at polling booth number 32; Sanjeet Kumar at polling booth number 224; Raj Kishore Singh at polling booth number 25; and Amit Kumar at polling booth number 260 were preparing lists of deceased voters and individuals who have permanently shifted from Bihar to other states.

After finalisation, these lists will be verified with the Booth Level Agents (BLAs) of various political parties to ensure that no genuine voter is left out of the voter list.

The investigation revealed that the video was uploaded before the final draft was prepared.

According to the statement by Rani Kumari, the BLO at polling booth 226, out of 878 voters, the list of 725 voters was shown in the video before the final draft was completed.

The process of preparing the list of deceased and permanently shifted voters is still underway, and the BLOs were working under the direction of the district returning officers.

Following the detailed investigation, the administration concluded that the allegations made by the YouTuber in the viral video were misleading.

The statement also noted that some journalists and YouTubers were publishing reports without seeking the administration’s version, thereby spreading factually incorrect and misleading content.

The Patna district administration has appealed to the public to stay vigilant against such misleading information.

On July 16, a video titled “Caught on camera: BLO found filling and signing thousands of voter forms in Patna,” alleging that during the Special Intensive Revision 2025, voter form formats were being filled and signed by the Booth Level Officer (BLO) himself.

–IANS

ajk/dan