Mamata leads Oppn charge on ECI drive
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Diverging Reports Breakdown
Mamata leads Oppn charge on ECI drive
Mamata Banerjee said the move was more dangerous than the National Register of Citizens (NRC) Opposition Mahagathbandhan or Grand Alliance signalled that it will launch a protest. The last time such an exercise was done was in seven states, including Bihar, in 2003. Block-level officers will give forms to people in house visits, guide them on filling it up, and collect it along with documents. The representatives of recognised political parties will be part of the process. People can also upload their form and documents online. Based on the people who have submitted the form, the draft roll will be made. After claims and objections, the finalRoll will be released. The draft roll is expected to be completed by July 25. The final roll is likely to be released by the end of the month. Critics have argued that these rules place an undue burden on migrant workers, the rural poor, and women, who often lack proper documentation. Officials aware of the matter have said that only people who are out of the 2003 roll will have to submit documentary proof.
In Bihar, which is scheduled to go to the polls later this year, the Opposition Mahagathbandhan or Grand Alliance signalled that it will launch a protest and emphasised that the exercise was totally impractical and would lead to the omission of names of tens of thousands of voters who cannot provide necessary documents.
“I don’t understand the reason behind the ECI move or the rationale behind selecting these dates. This is nothing short of a scam. I seek clarification from the commission on whether they are trying to implement the NRC through the back door. In fact, this looks to be more dangerous than the NRC which every political party in Opposition must resist,” Banerjee said.
On Tuesday, ECI had said that it will undertake SIR of the electoral roll across the country, beginning with Bihar, to weed out ineligible names, citing rapid urbanisation, frequent migration, young citizens becoming eligible to vote, non-reporting of deaths and inclusion of the names of foreign illegal immigrants. Booth Level Officers (BLOs) will conduct house-to-house surveys for verification during the process of this intensive revision that will end in Bihar by July 25.
The last time such an exercise was done was in seven states, including Bihar, in 2003.
As part of the process, block-level officers will give forms to people in house visits, guide them on filling it up, and collect it along with documents. The representatives of recognised political parties will be part of the process. People can also upload their form and documents online. Based on the people who have submitted the form, the draft roll will be made. After claims and objections, the final roll will be released.
Officials aware of the matter have said that only people who are out of the 2003 roll will have to submit documentary proof, in line with the Citizenship Act, 1955.
Officials have said that people born before July 1, 1987, are required to submit documents that prove the date and/or place of birth. No parental documents are required. For those born between 1987 and 2004, proof of date of birth and/or place of birth of the mother or father is also required. For those born after December 2, 2004, proof of date of birth and/or place of birth of both parents is needed.
The ECI has provided a non-exhaustive list of acceptable documents, including birth certificates, passports, educational certificates, caste certificates, land records, residence proofs, National Register of Citizens (NRC) data (if available), among others.
But critics have argued that these rules place an undue burden on migrant workers, the rural poor, and women, who often lack proper documentation.
Banerjee described ECI’s exercise as “ghapla (scam)”.
“I am requesting people: keep an eye on what the Election Commission is doing. Those who are abroad, those who are studying, those who live in villages, those who live in cities–everyone should remember, if your name is not on the voter list, don’t let it go. Keep checking until the last day. If your name is not there, they will try to erase your existence and put you in a detention camp,” she said.
Banerjee said the documentation requirement was unrealistic. “Why in the declaration form are the dates fixed between 1987 to 2004? They want you to provide your father’s documents, your mother’s birth certificate. I was born in India, but I don’t know my father’s birthday. Does that mean I don’t exist?”
Calling the entire exercise a ploy to help the Bharatiya Janata Party, Banerjee said that the intention, timing, and method of the survey raises serious concerns. “This is all being done to manipulate the voter list ahead of elections. Narendra Modi became Prime Minister and I became chief minister — do you think voter lists were flawed then? Then who is responsible for this mess now?” she asked.
In Bihar, Leader of the Opposition Tejashwi Yadav along with top leaders of the six party coalition comprising the Rashtriya Janata Dal, Congress, three Left parties and the VIkashsheel Insaan Party( VIP) are likely to hold a meeting on Friday in Patna to discuss the issue.
The Congress said that the SIR was a clean admission on behalf of ECI that all was not well with electoral rolls and asked why the poll body has abandoned a more feasible proposal made in March 2025 to clear the electoral rolls through Aadhaar. “The Congress firmly opposes SIR in Bihar and subsequent states,” the party said in a statement.
In Patna, a RJD leader said that leaders will meet the Chief Election Commissioner and Election Commissioners on this issue. “The GA would also start protests in the state capital soon,” said the leader.
RJD Rajya Sabha MP Manoj Jha said that the exercise will make voter enrolment very complicated. “ A person working in Surat who is a voter in Bihar may not have any documents like a birth certificate. This will complicate matters. This is why we fear that it is an attempt to invisibilise voters or add something from instructions of someone. That is what needs to be clarified by the EC,” the RJD MP said.
CPI-ML(Liberation) national general secretary, Dipankar Bhattacharya wrote to ECI, demanding that SIR should be immediately suspended. “The SIR is just like the exercise done for NRC in Assam. In Assam, NRC exercise took six years but still the list is non-acceptable while in Bihar, there are around eight crore electors. Is it possible, such a big number of electors would be covered in a month especially in July, when the state witnesses rains and also it is a season for sowing paddy? This is why the SIR should be suspended as there would be total chaos and large omission of names of electors before the state assembly polls in Bihar,” Bhattacharya said.
Source: https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/mamata-leads-oppn-charge-on-eci-drive-101750962570822.html