Bihar Electoral Rolls Revision Sparks Protest as Rahul Gandhi Leads Opposition March to EC Office in Patna
New Delhi: Leader of opposition in the Lok Sabha, Congress MP Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday (July 9) led a mahagathbandhan (grand alliance) march to the Election Commission’s office in Patna to protest the ongoing special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls ahead of the Bihar assembly elections.
Gandhi, who arrived in the Bihar capital this morning, was accompanied by Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Tejashwi Yadav, Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) (CPI-ML) Liberation general secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya, CPI general secretary D. Raja as well as senior leaders of other opposition parties.
Raising the slogan “Votebandi ke khilaf, Bihar ka dahad (Bihar’s roar against vote ban),” the opposition leaders, atop a vehicle, led the protest march from Income Tax Golambar in Patna.
Rail and road traffic were also disrupted in several areas in Bihar as party workers hit the streets with burning tyres to enforce a statewide bandh called by the opposition leaders.
Holding up the little red book of the Constitution of India, Gandhi addressed the gathering. He said, “We have come to Bihar, where people became martyrs for the Constitution. Our Constitution states that every citizen of India has the right to vote.”
“I want to tell the people of India and Bihar that just as the Maharashtra election was stolen, an attempt is being made to steal the Bihar election in the same way. They have realised that we have understood the Maharashtra model, so now they have brought the Bihar model,” he alleged, adding, “This is a way to snatch the votes of the poor, but they don’t know that this is Bihar, and the people of Bihar will never let this happen.”
He accused the Election Commission of working at the behest of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). “The Election Commission has forgotten that it does not belong to any political party. They are the Election Commissioners of India, and their job is to protect the Constitution. I want to give a clear message that you can do whatever you want, but later the law will apply to you. Don’t forget… no matter how big you are or where you sit, I guarantee you that the law will not spare you,” he said.
“The job of the Election Commission is not to work for the BJP. The job of the Election Commission is to protect the Constitution, but they are not doing their job,” he added.
RJD’s Tejashwi Yadav issued a call for “kranti” (revolution) against BJP and Nitish Kumar’s “Godi Aayog” and said, “The tyranny of the RSS-BJP-Nitish government will not work, will not work. We will not let democracy be extinguished from Bihar, the mother of democracy, will not let it be extinguished.”
The INDIA bloc has previously accused the Election Commission of being hostile towards their concerns over the hurried exercise to revise electoral rolls in poll-bound Bihar.
Meanwhile, independent MP from Bihar’s Purnea, Pappu Yadav, who had extended his support for the bandh, also joined the protest and led a blockade at Sachiwalay Halt railway station. “Why will you ask for citizenship? Who are you? How have I been voting till now? What is the value of the Aadhaar card – you tell me?” he said, raising questions to EC over the electoral rolls revision.
“We won’t spare the Election Commission. They have destroyed the lives of the poor people of the country,” he said, speaking to reporters.
BJP reacts
On the other hand, the BJP, which is in alliance with the Nitish Kumar-led Janata Dal (United) government in Bihar, has accused the INDIA bloc of having “no real issues” and resorting to hooliganism to trouble the common people.
Speaking to news agency PTI, Shahnawaz Hussain said, “INDIA bloc in Bihar has no real issues. They have no valid criticism against the NDA government or Nitish Kumar’s administration. Both the country and Bihar are progressing well. Since they lack a proper agenda, Election Commission is their soft target. The public does not support them, as they are resorting to hooliganism under the guise of Bihar Bandh.”
Meanwhile, Bihar deputy chief minister and BJP leader Samrat Choudhary said, “They came here to do picnic, they don’t have anything to do with the issues of Bihar, no contribution in Bihar’s development. They would have seen the development here… When Rahul Gandhi won 99 seats, he thought he had won the entire country. It is democracy, not monarchy, their monarchy has ended, now it is people’s democracy, people will decide.”
According to the ECI, the SIR will help it identify “illegal immigrants” and non-permanent residents of Bihar. It has announced that people will have to show documents and identity proof other than Aadhar, EPIC voters cards, and ration cards to become eligible voters. In such circumstances, birth certificates of people and their parents as proof of their places of birth, matriculation certificates, land records, or other property documents will be accepted.
However, several ground reports have already said that in a state like Bihar with poor literacy rates, high school dropout rates, extreme landlessness, and all-round poverty, the SIR could create more problems rather than addressing loopholes in the electoral rolls.
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