The Opposition on Friday accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Election Commission of India (ECI) of attempting “vote chori” ahead of Assembly elections later this year.
Addressing a public gathering in Bhagalpur on the sixth day of the Congress’ ‘Voter Adhikar Yatra’, party leader Rahul Gandhi accused the PM and the BJP of trying to disenfranchise lakhs of voters in the state through the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.
“The SIR is an attempt by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the BJP and the EC to steal your votes. They are trying their best to snatch your voting rights. The ‘vote chor’ came to Gayaji, but he did not say even a word on his government's attempt to steal votes with the help of the EC,” Gandhi said, referring to Modi’s visit to Bihar’s Gaya earlier in the day.
The leader of Opposition questioned Modi’s silence. “Vote Chori is an attack on the Constitution of India. The INDIA bloc will not allow the BJP to steal voting rights of the people of Bihar,” he said.
The Congress has been spearheading the opposition’s protest against the voter roll revision through its ‘Voter Adhikar Yatra’, which began on August 17 from Sasaram and will cover more than 20 districts before concluding in Patna on September 1.
Modi, who was in Bihar for the inauguration of Aunta-Simaria Bridge on the Ganga River, didn’t speak on the SIR issue and said he will not allow illegal immigrants decide India’s future.
“ The increasing population of illegal immigrants in the country is a matter of concern. The NDA government has decided not to let illegal immigrants decide the future of our country. We will not let immigrants take away the jobs meant for the people of Bihar...We will throw out every immigrant... People of Bihar need to beware of the supporters of these immigrants in the country... Congress and RJD want take away the rights of the people of Bihar and give them to immigrants for appeasement and to increase their vote bank..." Modi said.
Bihar Congress chief Rajesh Ram hit back at Modi and said, “I want to ask Modi ji, did these illegal immigrants vote in the 2024 elections or not. Those who voted for Modi ji are now being called illegal immigrants, so how was the government formed in the Centre?"
"If at all there are illegal immigrants, the government must release a list and the Home Ministry should answer how and why they were allowed to enter the country,” he added.
Hours later, Modi visited Kolkata to flag off new metro projects, where he spoke on infiltration.
Earlier Friday, the Supreme Court took note of EC’s submission that 85,000 new voters have come forward in special intensive revision (SIR) of Bihar and directed that excluded voters can now submit claims for re-inclusion with Aadhaar as proof of identity, in addition to 11 other documents already accepted.
The process can be completed either online or physically, the bench of Justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi said.
The court also pulled up political parties for their inaction in helping voters. “Political parties are not doing their jobs. What are your BLAs doing?” the bench asked, noting that out of over 1.6 lakh booth-level agents, only two had filed objections against deletions.
“Voters are more conscious than political parties,” the bench remarked, as it ordered that all parties be impleaded in the case and directed them to submit reports.
The EC urged the court to repose faith in the poll body and grant more time.
“Political parties are making hue and cry and things are not bad. Repose faith in us and give us some more time. We will be able to show you there are no exclusions.” EC said in court.
Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said the Supreme Court had saved democracy from a “brutal assault” by the ECI.
“The Supreme Court has laid down guardrails to make the revision more inclusive by including political parties in the process. So far the ECI’s approach has been obstructionist and contrary to the interests of the voters. We welcome this judgment especially because it gives us an enforceable right which the ECI cannot ignore,” he said, declaring that the poll body now stood “totally exposed and discredited.”
Congress leader Pawan Khera welcomes the apex court's intervention in getting Aadhaar recognised as a valid document.
“This has been our demand forever. We were surprised that the Election Commission of India was not entertaining our demand... The Election Commission of India has put all the liability on the BLA of the party, which is unprecedented. BLA will be penalised, and Form 6 does not have a column that allows for deletion. We will also expose the ECI’s scam on this,” he added.
The party has repeatedly alleged that the SIR is an attempt to disenfranchise communities that typically vote against the BJP.
The ECI has maintained that the 65 lakh deletions from the draft roll were part of a routine clean-up, removing duplicates and dead voters. The list of deleted names, along with reasons, was published on August 19 in compliance with the Supreme Court’s earlier directive.
The case will be heard again on September 8, with the court directing all political parties to file a status report on their role in assisting excluded voters.
