Congress Celebrates Supreme Court Ruling on Bihar Voter Exclusions

The Congress Party expressed strong approval following a recent ruling from the Supreme Court of India regarding the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral roll in Bihar. The court mandated the Election Commission of India (ECI) to facilitate the inclusion of excluded voters, allowing them to submit claims online in addition to traditional physical submissions. The decision has been hailed by Congress officials as a significant victory for democracy in the country.

Congress general secretary in-charge of communications, Jairam Ramesh, stated that the Supreme Court’s directive represents a triumph over what he termed a “brutal assault” on democratic principles by the ECI. He emphasized that the ruling exposes the commission and its actions as “totally discredited.” Ramesh highlighted that the court has established essential guidelines to incorporate political parties into the revision process, countering what he described as the ECI’s “obstructionist” stance.

The Supreme Court, through a bench led by Justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi, ordered the ECI to allow voters who were previously excluded from the electoral roll to submit claims using their Aadhaar card numbers alongside one of eleven acceptable forms of identification. This ruling comes after the ECI had withheld the list of deleted voters, an action that the court subsequently overturned on August 14, 2023. The Supreme Court’s intervention mandated that the list of excluded voters be published, complete with explanations for their removal.

In a pointed remark, Ramesh noted the surprising lack of objections filed by political parties concerning the exclusion of approximately 65 lakh voters. The Supreme Court responded by directing the chief electoral officer of Bihar to include these parties in ongoing court proceedings. The justices also instructed political parties to file status reports regarding their facilitation of claims by excluded voters by the next hearing date.

The court’s ruling reinforces the idea that the ECI must acknowledge the inclusion of Aadhaar as valid proof for identity verification. Ramesh commented, “The Supreme Court has laid down guardrails to make the revision more inclusive by including political parties in the process. We welcome this judgment especially because it gives us an enforceable right which the ECI cannot ignore.”

In a further development, senior advocate Rakesh Dwivedi, representing the ECI, requested a 15-day period for the commission to demonstrate that no voters had been unjustly excluded. The court’s response to this request will be closely monitored as it could have significant implications for the upcoming electoral process in Bihar.

The Congress Party’s response to the Supreme Court’s decision underscores a broader concern regarding electoral integrity and the representation of voters. As the political landscape in India continues to evolve, the ramifications of this ruling may resonate throughout the democratic processes in the country.