There is a ruckus about special intensive revision of voter list in Bihar. The opposition is alleging that this process is a conspiracy to remove poor, deprived, and minority communities from the voter list. Actually, under this process, all voters have to fill Enumeration Forms to prove their eligibility.
After 1 January 2003, registered voters will have to submit documents to prove citizenship. The Election Commission says that this process has been started under Section 21 (3) of the Representation of People Act 1950 and Voter Registration Rules 1960. According to the Election Commission, the eligibility of 7.89 crore voters in Bihar will be confirmed, out of which 4.96 crore voters will only have to verify, as their names already exist in the 2003 voter list.
That is, at least two and a half crore voters are clouded by crisis. This is the reason that the opposition is seeing it as a well-planned strategy just before the Bihar assembly elections. The purpose of which may be to exclude some sections of the society, especially poor, deprived, and minority communities from the voter list.
Why is the opposition calling the revision of voter list
Concerned about the special revision (SIR) of the voter list in Bihar moving towards the election, 10 parties of the opposition coalition India BLOC met the Election Commission on Wednesday and said that it would be difficult for the people to gather documents being sought in such a short time and this can be deprived of 2-3 crore voters of the state.
The delegation of India Block met the Chief Election Commissioner. Congress leader and Rajya Sabha MP Abhishek Manu Singhvi questioned whether four-five elections have been held in Bihar since 2003, were they all wrong, incomplete or incredible? In fact, the Election Commission is seeking his birth certificate from the voters who became voters after 2003. The reason for this is that the previous special revision took place in 2003. However, it took place one year of Lok Sabha elections and two years before the assembly elections. It is alleged that this time there is very little time for revision.
It is obvious that in unison, the opposition is calling this process an attack on democracy and administrative NRC. Tejashwi Yadav said that out of more than 8 crore voters in Bihar, 60% will have to prove their citizenship, which is difficult for poor and uneducated population. Yogendra Yadav estimated that the name of 4.76 crore voters could be removed from the list.
Actually the most difficult is that the Election Commission is not accepting widely available documents like Aadhaar and ration cards. It is obvious that the franchise of the marginalized communities, such as Dalits, Adivasis, and Minorities, may be affected.
Election Commission arguments
The Election Commission has described this process as regular and constitutional, which has been going on for the last 75 years. The Commission has uploaded the 2003 voter list on the website, so that 4.96 crore voters will not need to submit the documents. Nevertheless, the opposition says that this process is being implemented in a hurry and opaque manner.
The opposition argues that if you look at the socio-economic situation in Bihar, 26.54% people live under the roof of tin or tile. 14.09% of huts, and only 45–50% youth (18–40 age group) are matriculation passes. These communities may have a shortage of documents like birth certificate or residential evidence.
But if you look at the percentage of Aadhaar card holders in Bihar, then this allegation of the opposition seems irrational. According to a 2024 report, on an average 92.47% people in Bihar have an Aadhaar card. This figure is more than 100% especially in Seemanchal region (Kishanganj, Araria, Katihar, Purnia), as there are more Aadhaar cards made than the estimated population. Actually all these districts are such where the population of Bangladeshi and Rohingya can be possible. Kishanganj has 105.16%, Araria 102.23%, Katihar 101.92%, and Purnia 100.97%in Aadhaar card holders. Whereas in other districts of the state it is between 85-90%. It is clear that more people have got Aadhaar card made here.
TN Seshan did voter ID compulsory, even when there was a ruckus
When T.N. Seshan decided to make the voter ID (Voter ID) mandatory as the Chief Election Commissioner of India in 1993, then there was widespread ruckus and debate across the country. At that time it was also said that this is a way to get poor Gurba people out of the election process. But perhaps this voter ID came as a panacea for the deprived people. Those who had never voted for voter ID also cast their votes.
The reason for the improvement in the election process was that in front of a big party like Congress, parties like BSP, RJD, Samajwadi Party emerged strong. Seshan’s strict reformist attitude did a historic job of purifying the voter list and bringing transparency in the electoral process. There were many flaws in the electoral process in India, such as fake voting, duplicate voters, and disturbances in the voter list. This reformist work of Seshan gave every voter his identity card, due to which fake voting could be stopped.
At that time, most of the population in India, especially rural and poor communities, had no formal identity cards. Due to lack of birth certificate, school certificate, or other documents, it was difficult for millions of people to get voter ID. Photography and document verification facilities were limited in rural areas, which made the process complicated, yet the entire process was completed within 2 years. Today there is a computer, there is an internet which increases the speed of work hundreds of times.
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