The Nagaland Pradesh Congress Committee (NPCC), along with its subordinate units today held a Candlelight March at Congress Bhavan, Kohima, as well as in all the DCC (District Congress Committee) Bhavans across the State.
“The event was held in unison with Congress units and party workers all over India to express strong condemnation of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls currently being carried out in Bihar under the direction of the Election Commission of India,” the NPCC said in a press statement.
It also said that the move to implement SIR at this juncture raises serious concerns regarding its “timing, intent, and transparency, particularly when the nation is on the cusp of major electoral processes.”
The NPCC added that the “arbitrary and selective nature of this exercise undermines the democratic principles of free, fair, and inclusive elections, which form the cornerstone of our Constitution.”
“We firmly believe that the SIR in Bihar is politically motivated, designed to manipulate and distort the voter lists, thereby disenfranchising legitimate voters while favoring vested political interests,” the NPCC stated, adding that it sets a dangerous precedent that could compromise the credibility of the Election Commission and the sanctity of the electoral process.
The NPCC called upon the Election Commission of India to immediately halt the SIR in Bihar and ensure that no such exercise is undertaken without broad-based consultation, adequate safeguards, and strict adherence to the model code of conduct and constitutional norms.
“The Congress Party remains committed to protecting the rights of every eligible voter and will resist all attempts to subvert democracy through authoritarian and coercive measures,” it added.
Meanwhile, in a related development, the Supreme Court on Thursday directed the Election Commission to publish details of 65 lakh voters removed from the electoral rolls after the Special Intensive Revision in poll-bound Bihar. “Transparency is needed about 65 lakh deleted voters to enable people to seek clarification or correction,” a bench of Justices Surya Kant and Joymala Bagchi said.
