‘ECI stands totally exposed & discredited’: Congress hails SC verdict on Bihar SIR; claims democracy survived ‘brutal assault’ | India News
NEW DELHI: Congress on Friday welcomed the Supreme Court’s verdict on the Bihar Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, claiming that the Election Commission of India (ECI) stands “totally exposed and discredited.”Congress general secretary in-charge of communications, Jairam Ramesh, in a post on X, welcomed the ruling, saying that the democracy had survived a “brutal assault” from the EC.“The INC welcomes today’s verdict of the Supreme Court on the Bihar SIR issue. Democracy has survived a brutal assault from the Election Commission of India (ECI). On August 14th, the Supreme Court had intervened to set aside the ECI’s decision to withhold the list of deleted voters. The Supreme Court had directed that the list of deleted voters must be published ALONG WITH the reasons for such deletions,” Jairam posted on X.“Today, the ECI stands totally exposed and discredited. Its G2 puppeteers stand decisively defeated,” he added.Congress’ remarks came after the Supreme Court directed the ECI to allow excluded voters to file their claims both online and offline during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in poll-bound Bihar.Ramesh further noted that on August 14, the top court had already struck down the ECI’s move to withhold the list of deleted voters and ordered its publication along with reasons for deletions.“On August 14th, the Supreme Court had also directed the ECI to accept Aadhar cards as proof of identity for those deleted. Today it reaffirmed Aadhar as a valid ID that the ECI MUST accept. Today, the Supreme Court has laid down guardrails to make the revision more inclusive by including political parties in the process,” the Congress leader posted.Taking aim at the poll body’s functioning, Ramesh added, “So far the ECI’s approach has been obstructionist and contrary to the interests of the voters. We welcome this judgment especially because it gives us an enforceable right which the ECI cannot ignore.”Earlier in the day, a bench of Justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi also ruled that claim forms could be submitted with an Aadhaar number or any one of the 11 recognised identity documents.Noting with concern that political parties had not filed objections regarding the exclusion of nearly 65 lakh voters, the Court directed the Chief Electoral Officer of Bihar to include them as parties to the proceedings.“We will allow online submission of claims of deleted voters with Aadhaar card or any other acceptable documents for Bihar SIR,” the bench said, as quoted by PTI.“All the political parties shall file the status report by the next date of hearing on the claim form they had facilitated in filing by excluded voters,” the bench added.The matter has been posted for hearing on September 8.Meanwhile, senior advocate Rakesh Dwivedi, appearing for the ECI, requested the Court to grant the poll panel 15 days to establish that no wrongful exclusions had taken place.
