VOTER LIST REVISION OR ATTACK ON VOTING RIGHTS?

VOTER LIST REVISION OR ATTACK ON VOTING RIGHTS?

4-JULY-ENG 15

RAJIV NAYAN AGRAWAL

ARA--------------------------If it is a coincidence, it is a telling coincidence. On June 25, the day when the 50th anniversary of Indira Gandhi's Emergency was being celebrated with much fanfare by the current regime as 'Samvidhan Hatya Diwas', the process of Special Intensive Review (SIR) of voter lists was being started in Bihar, where assembly elections are due in a few months from now. Thus, from the very date on which the Emergency regime began with dangerous implications for the Constitution and democracy, this process of drastic cuts in voter lists is being started, which is going to have dangerous consequences for the very foundation of democracy, universal adult franchise.

Of course, this process is currently being started from Bihar. And apart from highlighting the possible adverse effects of this process in relation to Bihar, almost all experts and commentators are drawing attention to another problem. Almost all experts are unanimous on the fact that it is almost 'impossible' to complete this process before the Bihar elections and to adhere to the time schedule set for it. According to the time schedule, after the Election Commission of India issues the notice for the said special intensive revision on 24th June, within a month, all the signed forms of more than 8 crore voters should reach the Commission through the Booth Level Officer (BLO)/through the Commission's website, so that the inclusion of these names in the revised voter list can be considered. Remember that only those voters whose signed forms along with the necessary certificates reach the Commission in the remaining time of less than a month will be accepted for consideration for inclusion in the revised voter list. Those who are unable to fill these forms or whose complete forms are unable to reach the Commission by the last date will automatically be excluded from the proposed voter lists. Of course, the voters included in the voter lists till now have been divided into three different categories according to the date of their inclusion in the voter lists and documents have been demanded from voters falling in each of these categories to a different extent, but the condition of applying with proof of one's place of birth and date of birth is for all the more than 8 crore voters. It is impossible to complete this process in less than a month. In the context of Bihar itself, it has been reminded by the opposition parties as well as many independent observers that in Bihar itself, a thorough revision of the voter lists was done in 2003. But, at that time, it took two years to complete this process. Obviously, the time taken in this will not be reduced much by simply adding the adjective 'special' before 'intensive' in the name of the revision. Still, the issue is not only about the time available for this entire process, although in the context of Bihar, this haste also has a special meaning and importance. Meanwhile, the Election Commission has also made it clear that this project of special intensive revision of voter lists will be implemented on a nationwide scale – first in Bihar, then in those states where assembly elections are to be held in the next cycle and then in all the other states. In this context, other issues related to the methodology adopted for this process become more important than the inappropriateness of the timetable. This English proverb perfectly fits this – the devil is in the detail!

However, before going into these details of the process, it would not be inappropriate to take a look at the undemocratic arbitrariness of the way this decision has been taken. It is not surprising that not only in Bihar, but almost the entire opposition across the country has also sharply criticized the Election Commission for suddenly dropping this decision on their heads like a bomb. After the arrival of the new Chief Election Commissioner, there was no mention of this in the 1.5 dozen priorities that the Election Commission had mentioned for the coming time, even in consultation with the political parties and in general. Even in the last meeting held with the political parties in Bihar on the eve of the announcement of the election dates, there was no mention of this. As if one day the Election Commission suddenly felt the need to carry out such a revision in the voter lists and it imposed this decision on the political parties, which are the main players in the elections. But why?

It is obvious that the Election Commission has argued in its favour to clean up the voter lists. From the weaknesses of adding new names and deleting the names of the dead, to migration and illegal infiltration, arguments have been given. But, these arguments seem more like excuses. The communal hints that are visible in this excuse will also not remain hidden from anyone. The truth is that the process that is starting from Bihar now is, in a way, the process of making the entire voter list afresh. By completely rejecting the voter list on the basis of which the 2024 general elections were held, is the Election Commission not rejecting the validity of the general elections itself? This is not just for the elections in Bihar, it is for the general elections across the country, because this solution is being presented for the whole country. It is interesting that the Election Commission had completed the process of summary revision of voter lists across the country only a few months ago. After that suddenly the voter list was updated with new details.

Now we come to the details. The first aspect of the details of the method or process to be adopted for this is its basic principle. Till now, in India, it has been the responsibility of the state or the government to enroll people in the voter list. As soon as the voting age is over, every person becomes eligible to vote and the Election Commission has considered it its important responsibility to register his name in the voter list. In the new process, in which the voter has to apply with his signature and various proofs to get his name registered in the voter list, this responsibility has been directly put on the voter. Now, whoever is unable to complete this process will naturally not be included in the voter list. His omission is not a headache for the Election Commission or the government. It is a blow to the root of the system of elections as an expression of democracy.

The second aspect of the details is about the process to be adopted. The procedure has been decided that those who have been voters since before July 1987, that is, those who are 48 years of age or more, will have to provide proof of their place/date of birth and proof of the presence of their name in the voter list. However, those who have become voters between July 1987 and 2 December 2004, will have to provide the birth place/date certificate of one of their parents along with the above mentioned proofs. And those who have become voters after 2 December 2004, that is, those who are between 18 and 21 years of age, will have to provide the birth place/date certificate of both parents. Making the verification of the place of birth of parents mandatory for registration as a voter makes this entire process a frightening copy of the controversial process of preparing the National Register of Citizens or NRC. After failing in NRC itself, is the Modi government not trying to fulfill this objective now under the guise of the Election Commission, which also seems to raise doubts on the citizenship of poor minorities. Almost all opposition political parties and independent commentators have rightly raised the question that how many people can provide such proofs, at least in a backward state like Bihar? And more importantly, won't these conditions be a kind of exclusion of voters, in which the poor, uneducated and socially oppressed people will automatically be deprived of the right to vote.

Of course, the Election Commission has also given some alternatives in the matter of proofs. But, all experts are unanimous on the fact that even these alternative proofs cannot hide the fact that a large part of the poor, uneducated and socially oppressed sections will be filtered out by this sieve. On the other hand, a large part of the rich, educated and upper castes will get filtered out and reach the voter lists. Unfortunately, this does not seem to be an unwanted adverse effect of the undemocratic arbitrary decision of the Election Commission. On the contrary, it seems that the Election Commission has taken this step suddenly and with some hidden motivation to achieve this desired adverse effect. Of course, this can be seen even more sharply in the context of Bihar, but in reality it is more or less true on a national scale that the poor, uneducated, socially suppressed sections are more inclined towards the Mahagathbandhan in Bihar and the parties standing with the India Alliance on a national scale and similarly the rich, educated, upper caste sections are equally inclined towards the current ruling party. This immediate electoral political setting is behind this anti-democratic game of depriving millions of poor people of their right to vote, being played by the current government through the Election Commission. This conspiracy must be foiled to protect democracy.