Not your business, Election Commission told: Poll panel ticked off on citizenship verification Former chief election commissioner (CEC) O.P. Rawat, who supports periodic intensive revisions to prepare the rolls afresh, told The Telegraph that universal citizenship verification fell outside the scope of the EC’s authority

Pheroze L. Vincent

Verification of citizenship documents to ascertain the eligibility of voters is not within the Election Commission’s remit and may lead to large-scale disenfranchisement, at least two former election commissioners have said about the ongoing special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Bihar.

Former chief election commissioner (CEC) O.P. Rawat, who supports periodic intensive revisions to prepare the rolls afresh, told The Telegraph that universal citizenship verification fell outside the scope of the EC’s authority.

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“It is not the EC’s business to do this (checking citizenship documents). They should not have had 5b (in Annexure B of the SIR guidelines). There was no need to tell electoral registration officers (EROs) to refer cases for prosecution under the Citizenship Act,” Rawat said.

On Sunday, Bihar’s chief electoral officer issued a newspaper ad stating that the documents in support of the pre-filled enumeration form could be submitted after the deadline of July 25.

The guidelines released on June 24 had said that electors would have to submit the forms along with valid documentary proof during the SIR’s house-to-house enumeration phase that ends on July 25. The recent clarification, which the EC insists is not a departure from the earlier guideline, says that EROs can also accept documents from voters who make it to the draft rolls during the claims-and-objections phase to be conducted between August 1 and September 1.

“The ad seems to have been issued in light of the Association For Democratic Reforms’ petition (in the Supreme Court), which argues that the SIR guidelines state that those voters whose names are not in the 2003 electoral rolls are not citizens unless they prove otherwise…. This is dicey because even during the claims-and-objections phase, if you have a significant number of voters who can’t provide any of the documents specified, their names will be removed from the final rolls. This can be dangerous,” Rawat added.

Former election commissioner Ashok Lavasa said the EC had till now been relying on documentary evidence and physical verification, thereby upholding Article 326 that establishes universal adult suffrage as the basis for elections.

“Now, the EC seeks to make distinct document verification for different age categories based on the provisions of the Citizenship Act. In India, the government does not issue a universal citizenship document. In this scenario, should the EC go by a provision that risks depriving citizens of voting rights or follow its own time-tested procedure? Why has it opted for a new approach in a departure from its previous inclusive approach?” Lavasa said.

“The fate of Assam’s D-Voters (doubtful voters), categorised in this manner several years ago, is still not known. The SIR in Bihar will lead to the loss of many more voters,” he added.

Former CEC T.S. Krishna Murthy, who was part of the poll panel during the previous SIR in 2003, said parties must offer solutions instead of rejecting the process.

“If there is large-scale exclusion, the EC may be compelled to hold another election. Parties should cooperate with the EC. If they are not satisfied, they should point out the flaws in the process. They cannot decide this on the streets,” he said.

At a rally in Patna on Wednesday, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi warned the election commissioners against partisanship.

He said: “All of them (INDIA leaders who went to meet the EC last week) said the election commissioners are talking like the BJP and the RSS. They have forgotten that they do not belong to any political party. They are India’s election commissioners and their job is to protect this Constitution. Do what you want, but the lawwill not spare you. I guarantee you that.”

Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam MP P. Wilson questioned the timing of the SIR.

“Bihar just finished a Special Summary Revision (SSR) between October 2024 and January 2025. That process already addressed updates like migration, deaths and new electors. So why this sudden, duplicative and selective SIR? Why now, just months before elections?” he posted on X.

Wilson urged the EC to scrap the SIR and accept common identity proofs such as Aadhaar, ration cards and MNREGAjob cards.

Five of the 11 documents listed by the EC to verify the date and place of birth do not even indicate these details. A voter needs to submit one of these documents if their name is not on the 2003 rolls.

“If we allow the voter rolls to become a tool of exclusion, then we are surrendering the Republic to the forces of disenfranchisement and silent erasure,” Wilson added.

Zoya Hasan, professor emerita of political science at JNU, said: “This (the SIR) changes the relationship between the State and the citizen. The EC is going beyond its remit as it is not expected to verify citizenship. This is a de facto NRC (National Register of Citizens), which is very problematic. The documents required are not available to a majority of voters.”