As the Supreme Court on Monday told the Election Commission to consider Aadhaar and voter cards for the ongoing special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Bihar, Opposition Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) Rajya Sabha MP Manoj K Jha tells Preetha Nair that the poll panel must behave like a constitutional body and stick to its mandate of conducting free and fair elections in the country. Excerpts:EC data says over 65 lakh voters may not figure in Bihar’s draft electoral roll. Does it validate the Opposition’s concerns on disenfranchisement?We have been consistently saying that the Election Commission is doing the exercise with a hallmark of opacity. For instance, if you look at the different categories— such as diseased, permanently shifted, untraceable or found to be registered at different places—shows lack of transparency. When people are not available, they presume they have moved out. That presumption is flawed. We will watch each and every entry in these categories, once the numbers are shared with our district and state level units, but more importantly, we will go by the Supreme Court, because somewhere the Election Commission has defied their direction by not incorporating Aadhaar, EPIC card and ration card as documents for the SIR.Did you ask EC to share the details of the voters who are excluded from the draft electoral roll?Yes. We have asked details of each category. We will not allow the Election Commission to do it in a brazen manner, where the very idea of inclusion gets lost. The 2024 general election was conducted on the basis of these numbers. Now if they are saying the numbers were flawed, then that election should be called null and void.The EC said that Aadhaar and Voter ID can’t be relied upon.The denial of the Aadhaar card, voter ID card and ration cards are in the direction of disenfranchisement. I think that they have decided it much before the exercise. Bihar is one of the most document deficient states. However, Aadhaar has a penetration of 86- 87%.
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