"Democracy or BJP's vote suppression mechanism": Congress' Randeep Surjewala's slams BJP on Bihar electoral roll revision

New Delhi [India], July 7 (ANI): Slamming the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) over Election Commission of India's (ECI) decision to conduct Special Intensive Revision of Bihar electoral rolls, Congress leader Randeep Surjewala asked whether it is "democracy" of BJP's "vote suppression mechanism".
The Congress MP noted that Bihar's voter list was finalised in January 2025, which was acknowledged by ECI itself. He stated that revisions were being made to the voter list until June this year, following which suddenly, it was rejected.
"Democracy or BJP's vote suppression mechanism? Bihar is asking, the country is asking! Bihar's voter list was finalized in January 2025. The Election Commission itself acknowledged this. Revisions were made until June. Then, suddenly, it was discarded", Randeep Surjewala wrote on 'X'.
Surjewala mentioned that without any kind of proof or discrepancies, 70 million voters will have to "prove" their Indian citizenship. He asserted that the names which were added after the year 2003 are being viewed with suspicion and citizens who have been voting for the past 20 years are being asked for identification.
"Without any proof, without any discrepancies, 70 million voters now have to prove their Indian citizenship again. Those whose names were added after 2003 are being viewed with suspicion. Citizens who have been voting for the past 20 years are now being asked for identification, residence, and citizenship documents", he said in his 'X' post.
The Congress leader stated that the Special Intensive Revision process doesn't have any "legal basis" or it is mentioned in the rules.
"This process called 'Special Intensive Revision' has neither any legal basis nor any mention in the rules. This term doesn't even exist in electoral law. A 24-year-old woman who was allowed to vote in 2020 and 2024 is now being asked to show her parents' voter records from 2003. Aadhaar and ration cards have been deemed invalid. In Saurath village of Madhubani, 2,200 applications for domicile certificates were submitted, but only 150 were issued. People are standing in lines, and BLOs are clueless about what to do", Surjewala's 'X' post read.
Surjewala informed that the BJP leaders have also admitted that there have been "floods" of complaints related to the form submission and domicile certificate. He asserted that the SIR procedure is not only a voter list "cleanup" but an attempt to "rob" the public rights.
"Even BJP leaders have admitted that there's a flood of complaints regarding form submissions and domicile issuance. BLOs are dropping forms at locked houses to show work being done. This isn't voter list cleanup; it's an attempt to rob the public of their voting rights. When such a revision happened in 2003, it lasted a year, and everyone was treated equally. Now, it's just 30 days, different rules, and no clear process", the 'X' post said.
He noted that the Election Commission of India is evading answers, and the last such revision happened in 2003 and lasted for a year.
"The people of Bihar are being tested on the question of citizenship. Voters have been turned into suspected citizens. The Election Commission is evading answers. This isn't democracy; it's Shakuni's laboratory. This isn't a voter list; it's a script written with political motives", Surjewala wrote on 'X'.
The Supreme Court on Monday agreed to hear on July 10 a batch of pleas challenging the Election Commission of India's (ECI) move to conduct a Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in poll-bound Bihar.
A bench of Justices Sudhanshu Dhulia and Joymalya Bagchi agreed to list the matter on Thursday and allowed the parties to give advance notice of the petitions to the Election Commission of India and serve copies of the petitions.
Senior advocates Kapil Sibal, Abhishek Manu Singhvi, Gopal Sankaranarayanan and Shadan Farasat jointly mentioned the matter before the apex court. (ANI)