New Delhi: Congress leader Abhishek Singhvi called the Special Intensive Review of the Election Commission in Bihar “dangerous and bizarre” and claimed that the EC exercise, in its original form, could have struck off about 2 crore (20 million) of the state’s 4.9 crore (49 million) voters.
Addressing a press conference at Indira Bhavan, the Congress headquarters, on Saturday, Singhvi said EC’s plan to consider voters who were added after 2003 as “suspects” was an “arbitrary and legally questionable move.”
Singhvi was one of the legal counsels who opposed the EC’s move.
The Congress leader said on Saturday that party is satisfied with the orders of the Supreme Court, wherein it asked the EC to accept the Aadhaar card, the voter card and the ration card as valid proof of identity.
“The Election Commission’s plan could have disenfranchised nearly 2 crore voters out of around 4.9 crore voters registered after 2003. These voters were asked to furnish citizenship proof. It is beyond the jurisdiction of the Election Commission of India to verify the citizenship of people,” said Singhvi.
Singhvi, however, clarified that the Congress had it never sought a stay of the SIR.
{{/usCountry}}Singhvi, however, clarified that the Congress had it never sought a stay of the SIR.
{{/usCountry}}The Congress leader also questioned that, “Ten elections have been held since the last special revision in 2003. What was the hurry to carry out another revision when the Bihar election was just a few months away?” Singhvi pointed out that the 2003 special revision was done a year before the Lok Sabha polls and 2 years before the assembly election.
The Supreme Court on Thursday asked the Election Commission of India (ECI) to also consider Aadhaar cards, voter IDs and ration cards, as acceptable proof of eligibility for inclusion in electoral rolls in its ongoing special intensive revision (SIR) of the list in Bihar, even as it agreed to examine whether the poll body’s exercise violated legal provisions or could potentially lead to mass disenfranchisement ahead of assembly elections due later this year.
Underlining that the matter “goes to the root of the functioning of the democratic republic” and involves “the right to vote,” a bench of justices Sudhanshu Dhulia and Joymalya Bagchi said it would examine three key questions -- ECI’s powers to conduct such an exercise, the manner in which the SIR is being conducted, and its timing, and fixed the matter for next hearing on July 28.