Bihar voter drive bid to exclude migrants, attack on Constitution: Opposition to ECI brass
Opposition leaders
on Wednesday told Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and other EC officials that the proposed Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of Bihar's electoral roll was aimed at excluding voters-particularly migrant workers-from the upcoming assembly polls. Calling the timeline and conditions impractical, they alleged the move undermined electoral fairness and amounted to an "attack on the Constitution's basic structure." The EC's response, they said, was unsatisfactory, setting the stage for possible agitation and legal action.
After the meeting, Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi questioned the timing of the SIR, noting that the last such revision in Bihar was in 2003-well ahead of elections. "In 22 years and multiple polls since, was every election flawed? Now you want to rush this massive exercise in just two months in a state with nearly 8 crore voters?" he said.
Escalating his attack, Singhvi called the SIR "the worst assault on the Constitution's basic structure," warning that wrongful deletion or addition of even one voter distorts the
democratic process
. He questioned the EC's move to drop Aadhaar and ration cards as valid documents and mandate birth certificates for post-2003 voters and their parents. The Opposition could have cooperated had the exercise begun earlier with practical requirements, he said, adding that the EC's justification citing Maharashtra and increased BLA deployment was "not satisfactory."
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Manoj Jha of the RJD said: "This (SIR) is a conspiracy to evict people. The purpose of any exercise is exclusion instead of inclusion." He added that the EC had no answer when asked why such an exercise, not undertaken in 22 years, was being carried out now, using documents most people don't possess.
Dipankar Bhattacharya (CPI-ML) claimed the SIR aimed to exclude Bihar's
migrant workers
, who account for 20% of the state's voters, from the assembly polls. "Like note-bandi, this is vote-bandi," he quipped.
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