Aadhaar saves Patna driver’s right to vote in Bihar’s final roll

Patna driver Mukesh Kumar had resigned himself to losing his right to vote this November — until a last-minute lifeline from the Supreme Court turned his despair into relief.

“Bhagwan ka shukr hai, mera naam reh gaya voter list mein. Aadhaar card se hi kaam ban gaya (Thank god my name is in the final electoral roll. Aadhaar card was all I needed),” the 40-year-old said, after discovering his name in Bihar’s final electoral roll published on September 29.

The Election Commission’s three-month-long Special Intensive Revision (SIR) had left Kumar — who has been voting since 2004 — in limbo. Because he was not enrolled in 2003, the last time a similar revision was conducted, he was asked to furnish one of 11 prescribed documents to prove eligibility. His only IDs, Aadhaar and a driving licence, were not on that list.

The father of two, who lives in a thatched house in Patna’s Chitkohra locality, recalled the sinking feeling when he saw the EC’s rules. “After calling up nearly 20 people, I approached the Booth Level Officer. Even my father’s bank passbook wasn’t accepted. I was told to apply for a residential certificate, but my job keeps me on the move. It was impossible,” he said.

Kumar’s ordeal ended only when the Supreme Court, hearing petitions on the potential mass exclusion of voters, directed the EC to allow Aadhaar as the 12th identity document. Soon after, his Booth Level Officer assured him: “Chinta mat karo ab. Supreme Court ne Aadhaar allow kar diya hai (Don’t worry, Aadhaar is now allowed).”

For Kumar, the decision restored more than just his name on the rolls. “I have voted in every Lok Sabha and Assembly election since 2004. If Aadhaar had been accepted from the beginning, thousands of people like me would have been spared this mental agony,” he said.

The final roll for Bihar now stands at 7.42 crore electors — down from 7.89 crore in August — with the EC insisting that citizenship checks were a necessary safeguard. But for voters like Kumar, the debate has been about something more fundamental: the fragile line between being counted and being erased.