‘Another way to get back NRC': Rajya Sabha MP Kapil Sibal on Bihar electoral rolls revision
Sibal further alleged a "partnership" between the Election Commission of India and the BJP, claiming that in Maharashtra, the votes were increased, whereas in Bihar, they will decrease.
"It is being said that this exercise is a pilot project; It is another way to get back NRC...They want to impose majoritarian rule in India..They don't want anyone else to come to power in India. In Maharashtra, they increased the number of votes, and here they are reducing them. It is my allegation that there is a partnership between the Election Commission and them (BJP)", Kapil Sibal told ANI.
The Supreme Court on Thursday allowed the Election Commission to continue with its exercise of conducting a Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in poll-bound Bihar.
A bench of Justices Sudhanshu Dhulia and Joymalya Bagchi did not stay the SIR process but asked the ECI to consider allowing Aadhaar, ration cards, and electoral photo identity cards as admissible documents to prove voter identity during the SIR of electoral rolls being undertaken in Bihar.
"We are of the prima facie opinion that in the interest of justice, the Election Commission will also include documents like Aadhaar, Ration Card, Voter ID card, etc.. It is for the ECI to decide whether it wants to accept the documents or not, and if it does not, then provide reasons for its decision, which shall be sufficient to satisfy the petitioners. Meanwhile, petitioners are not pressing for an interim stay," the bench stated in its order.
In its order, the top court noted that the timeline for the process is very short since elections in Bihar are due in November.
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