The Congress on Friday declared that “democracy has survived a brutal assault” after the Supreme Court directed the Election Commission of India (ECI) to widen access for voters excluded in Bihar’s Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. The party claimed that the poll body now stands “totally exposed and discredited”.
The directive from a bench of Justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi allows excluded voters to file claims online as well as through physical submissions. The court further ordered that Aadhaar card details, along with any one of eleven prescribed documents, must be accepted as proof.
Expressing displeasure that political parties had not filed objections regarding the 65 lakh voters left out of the rolls, the bench directed the state’s chief electoral officer to implead them in the proceedings. Election officials have also been instructed to issue acknowledgement receipts to booth-level agents (BLAs) who submit claims on behalf of voters.
Congress general secretary in-charge communications, Jairam Ramesh, said the judgement ensures voters’ rights could not be dismissed. “Democracy has survived a brutal assault from the Election Commission of India,” he remarked, welcoming the intervention.
He recalled that on August 14, the Supreme Court had already set aside the ECI’s decision to withhold the list of deleted voters, directing that deletions must be published with reasons. On the same day, the court also ruled that Aadhaar card would be valid identity proof for those struck off the rolls.
Also read: SC to EC on Bihar SIR: Accept 11 documents or Aadhaar for voters
“Today, 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,” Ramesh said.
He added, “Today, the ECI stands totally exposed and discredited. Its G2 puppeteers stand decisively defeated.”
Congress general secretary in-charge organisation, K C Venugopal, termed the decision a “strong reprimand” to the poll body. “Further, its insistence that the ECI include political parties is a strong reprimand to the ECI that adopted an obstructionist and combative approach to the entire crisis so far,” he wrote on X.
“The ECI has been stonewalling attempts from our BLAs who have been complaining. In fact, half of our BLAs were not even acknowledged by the administration,” he alleged.
Venugopal added, “We hope this stern order by the Supreme Court finally breaks the ECI’s arrogance and it stops its nefarious attempts to steal the vote and evade accountability.”
Senior advocate Rakesh Dwivedi, representing the Election Commission, asked the court to grant the poll panel fifteen days to demonstrate that voter exclusion had not taken place.
The Supreme Court bench meanwhile directed all political parties to submit status reports at the next hearing on claims they had facilitated for the excluded voters.
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