Mumbai, July 10 (IANS) Shiv Sena spokesperson Sanjay Nirupam on Thursday defended the Election Commission of India (ECI) amid allegations of bias in the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Bihar, accusing the Opposition of deliberately trying to “defame” the process for political gain.
His remarks came after Congress leader and Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi urged the ECI to “work for law, not for BJP,” warning the PM Narendra Modi-led NDA government against “trying to apply the Maharashtra model of inflating voters” in Bihar.
Speaking to IANS, Sanjay Nirupam said, “The ECI is an independent and constitutional institution that functions as per the Constitution of India. Revising voter lists before elections is a normal, routine process. Just as it was done before the general elections across India, the same revision is being carried out ahead of the Bihar Assembly elections. But the Opposition is repeatedly trying to malign the ECI by accusing it of bias. This is nothing but a political excuse to hide its own failures.”
Nirupam also alleged that Bihar has a large number of illegal immigrants.
“As everyone knows, more than two crore Muslim illegal immigrants live in Bihar. They reside there illegally. Earlier governments and regional parties turned them into a vote bank by legalising them. But now, through the Special Intensive Revision exercise under Article 326, the ECI is identifying genuine citizens and removing illegal voters. I don’t see how this is unconstitutional or unlawful. Congress and RJD leaders are objecting only because they need the votes of Bangladeshi immigrants. They should be ashamed of trying to win elections with the support of illegal immigrants,” he added.
Meanwhile, on Thursday, the Supreme Court asked the ECI to consider “in the interest of justice” if documents such as Aadhaar, Voter ID and Ration Cards could be accepted for the purpose of verification of voters during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral rolls in poll-bound Bihar.
A Bench of Justices Sudhanshu Dhulia and Joymalya Bagchi was dealing with a batch of petitions claiming that if the June 26 decision of the poll body directing SIR is not set aside, it can “arbitrarily” and “without due process” disenfranchise lakhs of voters from electing their representatives, and disrupt free and fair elections and democracy — a part of basic structure of the Constitution.
In its order, the Justice Dhulia-led Bench said that the clutch of petitions raised an “important question” which goes to the very roots of the democratic setup of the country.
Opining that the matter required a detailed hearing, it asked the Election Commission to file its counter-affidavit within a week and told the petitioners to file their rejoinder affidavit, if any, before July 28.
After hearing the arguments of both sides, the Justice Dhulia-led Bench framed three questions for the consideration of the top court: First, the power of the ECI to conduct such a special intensive revision of electoral rolls; second, the legality and propriety of the procedure adopted by the ECI; and third, the timeline for conducting SIR right before the ensuing Bihar Assembly elections in November 2025.
–IANS
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