Supreme Court to hear Bihar SIR dispute today. The Election Commission has justified the process of deleting 6.5 million names, while the opposition calls it an attack on democracy. The matter has turned into a political conflict.
SIR: The Supreme Court of India is scheduled to hold a crucial hearing today, Tuesday, on the Special Summary Revision (SIR) process for voter list amendments in Bihar. Opposition parties and the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) have filed petitions in this matter, questioning the deletion of a large number of names from the voter list. The petitioners allege that the process of revising the voter list lacked transparency and infringes upon democratic rights.
What happened in the previous hearing?
During the previous hearing, the Supreme Court discussed which documents should be considered valid for voter identification. The court suggested that Aadhaar cards, ration cards, and Voter IDs could be accepted as valid documents. However, the Election Commission stated that a person's name cannot be added to or retained in the voter list solely based on Aadhaar, ration card, or a previously issued Voter ID.
Claim of deleting 6.5 million names
The Election Commission released the first phase data of the Bihar SIR process on July 27. According to the commission, approximately 6.5 million names will be removed from the voter list in Bihar. This includes 2.2 million deceased voters, 3.6 million people who have permanently moved to other locations, and approximately 700,000 names found to be registered in more than one place. The commission states that this step is necessary to keep the voter list accurate and updated.
Opposition and ruling party face-to-face
The political conflict over this issue has intensified in Bihar and Delhi. The opposition alleges that the Election Commission is acting at the behest of the BJP and that the purpose of deleting names from the voter list is to weaken the opposition's vote bank. On the other hand, the BJP says that the opposition is afraid of losing, which is why it is making baseless allegations.
Opposition's demonstration in Delhi
On Monday, opposition MPs tried to march towards the Election Commission in Delhi. Led by Rahul Gandhi, the opposition MPs demanded a "clean and fair" review of the voter list. The Election Commission had invited 30 opposition leaders for talks, but the opposition MPs were planning to arrive in a group of about 200. The police stopped and detained the leaders who tried to march without permission.
Rahul Gandhi's statement
Rahul Gandhi said that this is not a fight of any political party but a fight to save the Constitution. He said that the principle of "One Man, One Vote" is the foundation of Indian democracy and that the voter list must be transparent for this. He says that any discrepancy in the voter list is a violation of democratic rights.
Election Commission's stance
The Election Commission says that the SIR process is completely transparent and that there is no role for any political influence in it. According to the commission, the action of deleting names is being taken based on data verification and field surveys. People whose names have been removed have full opportunity to file objections and re-register.
