Bihar’s main opposition party, the RJD, and the Congress on Friday highlighted a newspaper report to accuse the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi of orchestrating a dictatorship in the guise of the special intensive revision of the voters’ list in the state.
It has been estimated that about 37 per cent of Bihar’s voters, whose names did not feature on the voter list after the last such revision of electoral rolls in 2003, would need to submit eligibility proof.
The Election Commission has given a list of 11 acceptable documents, which includes birth and caste certificates.
The Opposition claims that only 2.5 per cent of the population have birth certificates and only 20 per cent possess caste certificates. They have also questioned the timing of the exercise, with around 73 per cent of Bihar either experiencing floods or facing the risk.
A report in The Indian Express has highlighted how many villagers are distraught because they do not have the papers the Election Commission of India has mandated as eligibility proof.
The article was headlined “In Bihar, a chorus: ‘We only have Aadhaar... how do we get the papers EC asking for?’”
The RJD highlighted the report on its X handle.
“Village after village echoes the same plea: “All we have is Aadhaar”. This report by The Indian Express is a living example of the dictatorship being orchestrated by the Modi-Shah-led Election Commission,” the party of Lalu Prasad and Tejashwi Yadav.
“The report, highlighting ground realities, states that a deep silence is settling even in chief minister Nitish Kumar’s home turf, Nalanda, and there is widespread confusion among the common people regarding the Election Commission’s voting conditions.
“Most people in Kalyan Bigha have only their Aadhaar card as proof of identity. The Election Commission considers it nothing more than a piece of scrap paper for verification. Thousands of people are wandering around with their documents. BLOs are telling them to get new certificates made.
“In this chaos, the government is engaged in robbing the poor of their voting rights. Crores of people are outside Bihar for their livelihood, while only 20 days remain to get the documents prepared.
“This makes it clear that Modi-Nitish-Shah have tasked their puppet Election Commission with the responsibility of depriving the poor, Dalits, and backward classes of their right to vote,” the party wrote.
It warned: “But remember, the people of Bihar know how to give a befitting reply to any conspiracy aimed at destroying democracy.”
The RJD is not the only party crying foul at the Election Commission’s move.
The Congress also hit out at the poll panel.
This government specialises in giving people hell.
“The SIR is a sinister exercise to deprive lakhs of voters of their franchise,” Congress MP K.C Venugopal wrote, highlighting the same report.
“The unnecessary haste, and their absolute refusal to address genuine concerns raised by the Opposition, points to this being a clear effort to destroy the electoral system in Bihar. We will not let this go through. They must halt this ridiculous exercise immediately.”
Congress leader Jairam Ramesh on Thursday drew a stark comparison to the 2016 demonetisation move and warned that the ongoing Election Commission exercise could pose a severe threat to democratic integrity.
"Just as the 'demonetisation' of November 2016 dealt a severe blow to our economy, similarly, this 'voter suppression'—which is emerging in the form of SIR in Bihar and other states—will destroy our democracy," Ramesh had written.
Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool has also been fuming at the EC’s move.