Barely 0.012% of Bihar voters are ‘foreigners’, most are Nepali women married to Indian men

The spectre of foreign voters has loomed large over Bihar’s upcoming polls.

In June 2025, the Election Commission of India launched the Special Intensive Revision to verify nearly 80 million voters in the state, citing concerns over “ illegal immigrants ” on electoral rolls. A month later, officials claimed that they had identified a “ large number of people ” from Nepal, Bangladesh, and Myanmar during the door-to-door verification process for the revision.

The Bharatiya Janata Party amplified this rhetoric in its election campaign. At a rally on November 3, Prime Minister Narendra Modi asked the audience: “Mujhe bataaiye, kya Bihar ka bhavishya aap tay karenge, ki ghuspetiya tay karega – tell me, will you decide the future of Bihar, or will ‘foreign infiltrators’.”

Duri