The INDIA bloc held a demonstration on Monday with close to 300 members of Parliament marching to the office the EC demanding an early investigation into the allegations made by Rahul Gandhi, Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, about widespread irregularities on the voter lists
The allegations of an unholy haste in holding the special intensive revision of the electoral roll in Bihar and foul play in the electoral rolls elsewhere have given the Opposition a point to unite after quite a while. That said, the Election Commission of India must see it from a politically neutral point of view, clarify its positions and clean up its procedures.
The INDIA bloc held a demonstration on Monday with close to 300 members of Parliament marching to the office the EC demanding an early investigation into the allegations made by Rahul Gandhi, Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, about widespread irregularities on the voter lists. The EC has taken a curious position, though, asking Mr Gandhi to sign a document and provide fresh evidence for his allegations. Yet Mr Gandhi insists that he has discovered the anomalies in the documents the commission itself provided. It is incumbent upon EC, therefore, to ensure the sanctity of the electoral roll, irrespective of whether Mr Gandhi further helps it or not in this endeavour. After all, holding free and fair elections is not his mandate.
The Bihar SIR imbroglio, meanwhile, has become even more complex after the Supreme Court agreed with the EC’s decision not to accept Aadhaar as conclusive proof of citizenship. But several political parties have already raised objections to the short time period made available to the voters to produce the documents required to remain on the list. The EC’s position that it need not publish reasons for removing someone from the list does not enhance its majesty; it must remember that it is dealing with one of the most sacrosanct and inviolable rights available to the citizens in a democratic republic, and hence must act in the most transparent manner possible while doing its job.
It has been pointed out that a person whose name appears on the draft list but is dropped in the final one will not get adequate time to appeal the decision before the election to the Bihar Assembly. The EC’s assurance that it will drop no one whose name appears on the draft list will not be sufficient to allay their apprehension.
It may be noted that the BJP has come to the defence of the EC, questioning the duplicity of the Opposition in protesting the Bihar SIR while highlighting alleged large-scale manipulations on voter lists elsewhere. The fact is that the Opposition’s argument is very simple — the EC’s action goes against the basic dictum of “one person one vote”. Many eligible citizens will have no vote in Bihar while many have several votes elsewhere. It is in the interest of the BJP, too, that the voter list has the sanctity it should have.
The EC must also ponder over its decision to remove from rolls the migrant labourers who are no longer residents of places where they once lived. For, the migrant may have gone to another state in search of a job but they could move to yet another state since they have no guarantee of job. It would be close to impossible for such a person to register themselves as a voter in all those places. The choice must hence be left to the voter to decide which place he wants to vote from while ensuring that there is no duplication.
Cleaning up the voters list is a matter of inclusion, as the Supreme Court pointed out. It is the duty of the EC to be proactive and be the protector of the citizen’s rights. There is no excuse for it to not do this job.
