Jebi Mather Hisham seeks discussion on SIR of electoral rolls in Bihar

In her letter to the Secretary General of Rajya Sabha, Hisham raised apprehensions over the actions of the Election Commission of India (ECI), alleging that the exercise had triggered fears of disenfranchisement among marginalised communities due to the absence of adequate safeguards and transparency. She also highlighted the relevance of the issue in the context of the forthcoming elections in Kerala and other states.

Meanwhile, Rajya Sabha MPs Akhilesh Prasad Singh, Syed Naseer Hussain, Ranani Ashokrao Patil, and Ranjeet Ranjan also submitted Adjournment Motions urging the House to take up the issue of SIR of electoral rolls in Bihar as a matter of urgent public importance.

Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP Sushmita Dev also moved an Adjournment Motion to discuss the ongoing issue of SIR of electoral rolls in Bihar.

In her letter to the Secretary General, Dev accused the government of using the Election Commission to implement an "exclusionary agenda" aimed at stripping voting rights under the guise of electoral list revision.

She further stated that the exercise "threatened" to disenfranchise two crore voters and particularly targeted the poor, migrants and marginalised communities by demanding documents such as the parental birth certificate, domicile proof and other records which most citizens did not possess.

"Even widely accepted identity documents like Aadhaar and ration cards were initially excluded from the verification process and even after a widespread public outcry, the Election Commission is reiterating the same. The exercise, being conducted during monsoon floods and peak migration season, makes it logistically unrealistic for lakhs of citizens to comply, raising serious apprehensions that this is a mechanism to exclude lakhs of voters rather than a genuine electoral update," the letter further read. (ANI)