CONGRESS RAISES QUESTIONS ON THE EC ON DELETION OF 65 LAKH NAMES

CONGRESS RAISES QUESTIONS ON THE EC ON DELETION OF 65 LAKH NAMES

5-AUG-ENG 1

RAJIV NAYAN AGRAWAL

PATNA-------------------------A political storm has erupted over the deletion of 65 lakh names from the voter list before the assembly elections in Bihar. Congress state president Rajesh Ram, Madan Mohan Jha and Praveen Jha have raised sharp questions on this deletion done under the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process. The Congress has demanded from the Election Commission that the detailed list and reasons of the voters who have been removed from the list by declaring them dead or temporarily absent should be made public.

Congress leaders alleged that there is no mention of the reasons for the names removed on the commission's website, raising doubts on the transparency of this process. In Nalanda, the names of several people have been removed from the same booth on the basis of death, while in Begusarai, the name of a person who attended the cremation of a Union minister is also missing from the list. Praveen Jha said that many such examples are coming to light, which raises questions on the credibility of this process. Tejashwi Yadav attacks the Commission

Leader of Opposition Tejashwi Yadav has also cornered the Commission on the issue. He claimed that his own name and EPIC number were removed from the voter list. Tejashwi said, “If my name can be deleted, what will happen to the common people?” He has demanded the Commission to make booth-level data and the reasons for the deleted names public.

The Congress leaders alleged that if the voter list was to be corrected, the Commission should have consulted with political parties and society. They questioned how the Commission knew even before the process began that 20% names would be deleted? The Congress also alleged that the ruling parties did not participate in the process, while the Opposition repeatedly sought answers from the Commission. The leaders said that the process is suspicious and indicates “something fishy”.

The Congress also pointed out that the Supreme Court had advised to validate Aadhaar cards in the voter list process, but the Commission did not accept it. The leaders said that when the names of even senior officials like IAS are being removed from the list, then the condition of the common people can be imagined. They also alleged that neither the government nor the Prime Minister has faith in the judges of the Supreme Court.

The Congress leaders said that Bihar is the mother of democracy and change begins from here. They demanded the Commission to bring transparency in the process and clarify the reasons for removing the names of 65 lakh voters along with the list of those removed. The leaders warned that if the Commission did not respond, they and Tejashwi Yadav would take the issue to the public and get an answer.

The Congress has also asked the Commission whether any documents were taken from the relatives of voters declared dead and whether physical verification of those temporarily absent was done or not. The Supreme Court has assured intervention in the matter and will hear it finally on August 12-13. The Congress said that they will take the matter to the Supreme Court and the court of the people so that the democratic rights of the people of Bihar can be protected.