NEW DELHI: As the EC began its Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of Bihar’s electoral rolls, the Congress on Sunday said it will oppose the move legally, politically, and on all fronts. The move invited scathing criticism from the Opposition parties as the EC on Saturday said around 2.93 crore of 7.89 crore voters, or about 37% of the electorate, will have to submit proof of their eligibility.
Speaking with this newspaper, Congress leader Praveen Chakravartyquestioned the methodology adopted by the EC to ascertain that 37% of the Bihar electorate will have to re-register.
“How did they get the figure of 37%? This means they have the electoral roll of 2003 in a machine-readable format. Otherwise, it’s impossible to analyse and come up with the figure. The Congress has been demanding the Maharashtra electoral rolls for a long time. If they have the 2003 rolls, why are they not showing us the 2024 Maharashtra voter rolls?” said Chakravarty, a member of EAGLE, an eight-member Congress panel tasked with looking into polls.
He also pointed out that the EC had mooted a proposal on March 8 for electoral roll cleaning using Aadhaar, which, while not perfect, is a more viable alternative solution than an intensive voter revision in Bihar.
“Why did the EC abandon that to suddenly announce an SIR three months after the Aadhaar proposal?” he asked.
The EC’s move on June 24, requiring all existing voters who were not on the 2003 rolls to provide proof of their and their parents’ citizenship, has also sparked concerns of disenfranchisement and exclusion of the poor and marginalised from voter rolls.
“If I was a voter in 2024 or 2019, that doesn’t mean I am a voter now. I have to re-register. Now, they are saying I have to prove my veracity as a voter and prove date and place of birth. Why am I guilty until proven innocent?” he said.
Chakravarty also said the EC has come up with arduous rules for providing birth certificates of voters and their parents, depending on the year of birth.
Besides Union and state government officials will now dictate who has correct documents and who doesn’t, thus dictating who gets to vote in the upcoming Bihar assembly polls.