A disturbing scene emerged in the Samastipur district of Bihar, where a video captured hundreds of discarded Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) slips strewn along the side of a road in the Sarairanjan Assembly constituency, two days after polling in the first phase of the 2025 Assembly elections. The incident sparked immediate controversy: opposition parties raised alarms, alleging tampering and raising questions such as “on whose orders were these slips thrown away?”

In response, officials clarified that the slips were not from the actual vote-counting process but from a mock polling exercise conducted prior to the real polling day to test Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) and VVPAT devices. District Magistrate Roshan Kushwaha said that during the mock poll an excess slip stack was generated and not all were shredded properly, leading to the visible pile. The Election Commission of India (EC) confirmed that the integrity of the actual poll remains unaffected; nevertheless, it has suspended the Assistant Returning Officer (ARO) responsible, filed an FIR and ordered a departmental probe.

Despite the assurance, the lapse has raised fresh concerns about election-process governance, oversight of mock poll procedures and disposal of election-related materials. With counting still ahead, the episode underlines the heightened scrutiny on the electoral machinery in one of India’s most high-stakes state polls.