New Delhi, India: Giridhari Yadav, a well-known Member of Parliament from the Janata Dal (United) – JD(U), has spoken out strongly against the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voter lists in Bihar.
Yadav, whose party is a crucial ally in the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA), said that the Election Commission of India (ECI) doesn’t have enough “practical knowledge” of Bihar’s unique history and geography, which makes the present revision process problematic from the start.
Yadav’s criticism comes at a time when opposition parties, especially the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), are getting more and more angry. They have also questioned the integrity and usefulness of the roll revision and have loudly called for a legislative discussion on the subject.
“Imposed Forcefully”: Worries About Short Deadlines
JD(U) MP Giridhari Yadav’s harsh criticism focused on the ECI’s one-month deadline for providing the relevant papers, which he called “impractical.” He talked about his own experience, saying that it took him ten days to get all the documents he needed. Yadav also talked about the big problems that migrant voters have to deal with, like his own son living in America, in meeting the strict standards on time.
“The Election Commission doesn’t know anything useful. It doesn’t know anything about Bihar’s history or geography. It took me ten days to get all the papers together. My son lives in the US. How is he going to get the signatures done in a month? “This (SIR) has been forced on us,” Yadav said, showing how upset he was. He thought that the election body should have given at least six months for such a big job.
Yadav said, “At least six months should have been given for this…” to show how strongly he believed it. I am expressing my own opinion. No matter what the party says, this is the truth. “Why did I become an MP if I can’t tell the truth?” His comments show that he has a deeper, personal concern that goes beyond political lines.
Parliamentary Disruption and Demands from the Opposition. The debate over the Bihar SIR has already made its way into the legislative procedures. Both Houses of Parliament were disrupted on Wednesday when Opposition MPs forcefully called for a discussion on the issue. On Tuesday, the same thing happened again: Parliament had to stop working several times, mostly because of the SIR issue, and didn’t get any important work done.
In its defense, the Election Commission has said that the SIR is an important step to clean up the voter records before the Bihar Assembly elections. During the ongoing revision, they determined that more than 52.3 lakh voters in Bihar were either dead, permanently moved, registered at more than one place, or “not traceable.” The ECI has made it clear that citizens have a full month, from August 1 to September 1, to raise objections. All of the major political parties are active in the process through their booth-level agents. But the opposition is still not convinced, saying that the government and the ECI are in on a “conspiracy to take away the right to vote” from people who are already vulnerable.