Pawan Khera’s “EC vs people of Bihar” remark triggered a major online backlash.
He linked early NDA leads to alleged voter-roll irregularities.
Netizens slammed his comment as reckless during live vote counting.
A political firestorm has been swirling on Friday, 14th November 2025, as Congress leader Pawan Khera said that the Bihar Assembly Election had turned into a “contest” between the Election Commission of India (ECI) and the people of the state. The remark triggered outrage across social media, subjecting itself to criticism for undermining the democratic process.
The vote counting in Bihar is ongoing, with early trends showing the NDA leading from the front. He said the situation looks more like a face-off between voters and the poll body rather than a traditional electoral fight. He made the comments while speaking to reporters regarding the early trends.
As per reports, he remarked that the early numbers were going in favour of Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar, but they may change later on. He further continued that the people of Bihar should not be underestimated, as they had “shown courage” even after the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) controversy of voter rolls in the state.
The party has raised allegations regarding irregularities in the SIR process for months now. The leaders have even claimed that there has been large-scale deletion of voter names in the state. Reports even suggest an allegation of detecting around 89 lakh complaints objecting to the revision exercise. It has been a major political discussion as the election season proceeds.
But this kind of comment in the middle of the vote-counting process has triggered netizens online, saying that if the trend is with them, it is fair, and if it suggests otherwise, then it is faulty. Many pointed out the statement to be a shield that Congress leaders use as an excuse given the early numbers are against the party’s favour. The comparison of an election to a clash seems like crossing a line that could damage public trust at a sensitive moment.
Some even said that one needs to be accountable and transparent, but such “reckless” and “fuelled by frustration” words can cause an opposite effect in the general scenario. The criticism of the Election Commission has always been done at the time of election, but such remarks have been deemed unnecessary and unusually confrontational.
Another layer of tension has been added to the already existing high stakes as the final results are yet to be out. There has been no formal clarification yet from either the Congress or the Election Commission. In a state where politics induces quite some emotions, Khera’s remarks come as something that travels far beyond the press conference room. [Rh]
