New Delhi
The Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Dnyanesh Kumar has strongly defended the process amidst the continuous opposition from the opposition over the ongoing special intensive amendment (SIR) campaign in Bihar. He raised the question whether the Election Commission should allow the dead voters, duplicate voter ID card holders and foreign nationals to be included in the voter list. This statement came when the Rashtriya Janata Dal, Congress and other opposition parties have expressed sharp protest against the SIR campaign. Opposition parties claim that the SIR process can take away the franchise of more than 5 million voters.
Questions raised on sir campaign
The Chief Election Commissioner said in the interview, “Should the Election Commission be allowed to keep the dead voters in the voter list? Should people with duplicate voter ID be allowed? Should foreign nationals be included in the voter list? What is the objection to this?” He insisted that a pure and accurate voter list is the foundation for the success of democracy.
Opposition of opposition and uproar in Parliament
Several MPs of the India alliance, including Congress Parliamentary Party Chairman Sonia Gandhi, staged a protest in the Parliament House campus against the amendment of the voter list in Bihar and demanded the withdrawal of it as well as withdrawing the issue in both houses. Before the commencement of the day’s proceedings, Congress, DMK, Trinamool Congress, Samajwadi Party, JMM, RJD and Left parties, top leaders and MPs gathered outside the Capricorn gate of Parliament and raised slogans against the SIR of the government and voter list. The opposition alleges that this campaign is a conspiracy to deprive voters, especially poor and marginalized communities before the Bihar assembly elections. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav called the campaign “conspiracy against democracy”.
Election Commission data
The Election Commission said in a statement that so far 56 lakh voters have been found to be disqualified under the SIR campaign. It includes 20 lakh dead voters, 28 lakh voters who have gone out of Bihar, 7 lakh voters who are registered in two places, and 1 lakh voters are included which could not be ascertained. CEC raised the question, “Should the Election Commission not remove such voters?”
Transparent process claim
Gyanesh Kumar said that the SIR campaign is completely transparent and its purpose is to prepare a pure voter list. He informed that the voters of Bihar have enthusiastically participated in this campaign and so far 57.48% calculation forms have been collected. The Commission also clarified that 4.96 crore voters included in the 2003 voter list do not need to submit any additional documents, while the remaining 3 crore voters will have to submit one of the 11 listed documents to prove their date or place. He asked, “Is the net voter list being prepared by the Election Commission through a transparent process is not the cornerstone of fair elections and a strong democracy?” Chief Election Commissioner Dnyanesh Kumar said, “At some point, all of us, and all citizens of India, will have to go beyond political ideologies, these questions will have to be considered deeply together.”
Case in Supreme Court
Several petitions against the SIR campaign have been filed in the Supreme Court, claiming that the process is unconstitutional and can denote millions of voters of franchise. The Supreme Court has allowed the Commission to continue the campaign, but also suggested that documents like Aadhaar, Ration Card and Voter ID should be accepted. The court also raised questions at the time of the campaign, worshipIt was why it was implemented only in Bihar and why it was not done in the whole country.
Opposition strategy
A day earlier, Leader of Opposition in Bihar Tejashwi Yadav threatened that if the SIR process was not stopped, he would boycott the upcoming elections in the state. When asked about his boycott statement, Tejashwi said, “Will see what people want and what our colleagues say.” He asked, “If the state elections are conducted in a partisan and manipulative manner, where it is already decided who will win how many seats, then what is the use of holding such elections?”
