Opposition Strikes SC Over Bihar Voter Listing Revision; EC Says No Rule Change Amid Row Over Advert
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INDIA bloc events have been opposing the supply whereby voters whose names had been included within the electoral roll after 2003 are required to submit beginning paperwork
The final such voter record revision in Bihar was performed in 2003. (Picture for illustration: PTI)
Opposition events have intensified their criticism of the particular intensive revision of electoral rolls in poll-bound Bihar, with TMC MP Mahua Moitra and RJD’s Manoj Jha shifting the Supreme Courtroom looking for to quash the EC order claiming that it violated the Structure.
Apart from Moitra and Jha, a number of NGOs have additionally petitioned the court docket in opposition to the particular intensive revision (SIR), even because the Election Fee (EC) issued a press release on Sunday saying it has not modified its directions on the revision course of.
This got here after a number of social media posts, together with one by Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, cited an commercial by the EC printed in newspapers to counsel that exhibiting paperwork shouldn’t be obligatory.
The Congress and different INDIA bloc events have been opposing the supply whereby voters whose names had been included within the electoral roll after 2003 are required to submit paperwork associated to beginning.
“Why are individuals who have been voting in election after election being requested to point out their paperwork for voting ?” Kharge mentioned in a put up on X. “When the stress from the opposition, the general public and civil society elevated, the Election Fee hurriedly printed these commercials at this time, which state that now solely a kind must be crammed and exhibiting paperwork shouldn’t be obligatory.”
भाजपा ने चुनाव आयोग के सहयोग से, बिहार में करोड़ों लोगों का वोटिंग का अधिकार छीनने का जो मास्टर प्लॉन बनाया था, उसमें अब भाजपा खुद फँसती नज़र आ रही है। पहले दिन से ही, कांग्रेस पार्टी Particular Intensive Revision of Electoral Rolls (SIR) के ख़िलाफ़ आवाज़ उठा रही है। जो लोग… pic.twitter.com/wtfbEDZWOx— Mallikarjun Kharge (@kharge) July 6, 2025
WHAT DID THE EC SAY?
In a press release, the EC made it clear that whereas voters had been required to “submit their paperwork anytime earlier than July 25, 2025″, those that failed to take action would get a possibility “in the course of the Claims & Objections interval additionally”.
The ballot physique additionally urged individuals to “watch out for statements being made by a couple of individuals, who with out studying the SIR order dated 24 June 2025… try to confuse the general public with their incorrect and deceptive statements”.
WHAT DID THE PETITIONERS SAY?
Moitra, who moved the SC looking for quashing of the June 24 EC order below which particular intensive revision (SIR) is being performed, alleged that it violates a number of provisions of the Structure and the Illustration of Folks (RP) Act, 1950.
In her plea, she submitted that if not put aside, it could result in large-scale disenfranchisement of eligible voters within the nation, thereby undermining democracy and free and honest elections.
“The current writ petition has been filed in public curiosity below Article 32 of the Structure looking for setting apart of order dated 24.06.2025 issued by Election Fee of India below which SIR of electoral rolls in Bihar is being performed in violation of Articles 14, 19(1)(a), 21, 325, 328 of the Structure and provisions of Illustration of Folks (RP) Act, 1950 and Registration of Electors (RER) Guidelines, 1960…,” her plea said.
Moitra sought a course from the apex court docket to restrain the EC from issuing comparable orders for SIR of electoral rolls in different states.
“They’ve now launched it to deprive the bonafide younger citizens of Bihar, the place elections are slated to be held shortly. Later, they’ll goal Bengal, the place elections are due in 2026,” Moitra informed information company PTI.
Jha, in the meantime, alleged in his plea that the EC order violated Articles 14, 21, 325 and 326 of the Structure of India. He said that the impugned order “is a device of institutionalised disenfranchisement and it’s getting used to justify aggressive and opaque revisions of electoral rolls that disproportionately goal Muslim, Dalit and poor migrant communities, as such, they don’t seem to be random patterns however it’s engineered exclusions”.
An analogous plea has additionally been filed by the NGO, Affiliation of Democratic Reforms, via advocate Prashant Bhushan. A number of different civil society organisations like PUCL and activists like Yogendra Yadav have approached the highest court docket in opposition to the EC’s course.
Whereas the opposition has been questioning the timing and intent of the train, the BJP has defended it. Chief of Opposition within the West Bengal meeting Suvendu Adhikari, nevertheless, welcomed the SIR and mentioned such an train also needs to be performed within the TMC-ruled state.
The final such revision in Bihar was performed in 2003. In keeping with the EC, the train was necessitated by fast urbanisation, frequent migration, younger residents changing into eligible to vote, non-reporting of deaths, and inclusion of the names of international unlawful immigrants.
The EC mentioned it is going to scrupulously adhere to the constitutional and authorized provisions as laid down in Article 326 of the Structure and Part 16 of the Illustration of the Folks Act, 1950, in finishing up the revision.
(With PTI inputs)
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