"First Big Victory": Yogendra Yadav On Supreme Court, Bihar Voter List Row

"First Big Victory": Yogendra Yadav On Supreme Court, Bihar Voter List Row

Political analyst Yogendra Yadav - one of those challenging the Election Commission's 'special intensive revision' of Bihar's voter list - hailed "the first big victory" in that battle, after the Supreme Court suggested the poll body accept Aadhaar and its own identity card as documents for voter re-verification.

"Now the entire process will be monitored by the Supreme Court... the court will keep an eye on the revision of electoral rolls. We have got the first big victory today," Mr Yadav told NDTV Thursday.

Mr Yadav was speaking shortly after the Supreme Court threw some tough questions at the Election Commission, including asking the poll panel to justify the legal backing for this exercise and why it wanted to revise a voter list - that had been updated in January - months before an Assembly election.

"We had said in our petition that the way the Election Commission is revising the rolls is an attempt to suppress the common people's right to vote," he told NDTV. "That is why we had requested the Supreme Court to intervene in this matter. And I am happy the Supreme Court has recorded, in its order, the suggestion that Aadhaar, voter ID, and ration card should be included in the list of documents."

Mr Yadav also pointed to the court's warning to the Election Commission - that every person removed from the list in this revision must be given the chance to appeal the exclusion.

Earlier today the Supreme Court - which did not order a stay on the revision exercise, as requested by the petitioners, before the next hearing on July 28 - indicated it was concerned about the timeframe.

The court expressed "serious doubts" over the Election Commission's ability to complete the 'special intensive revision' - an exercise that critics have also said has no legal standing - while ensuring genuine voters are not disenfranchised before the October/November election.

READ | "Have Serious Doubts": Court On 'Special Revision' Of Bihar Voter List

"Your exercise is not the problem... it is the timing. We have serious doubts if you can manage this exercise. With such a big population (an estimated eight crore people) being subject to this 'intensive review', is it possible to link this to the forthcoming election?" the court asked.

The court also asked the EC why it had excluded widely-used government IDs, such as Aadhaar and its own voter identity card, from the list of documents voters need to re-verify themselves.

At least three of these - Aadhaar, ration cards, and the EC's ID card - should be included, the court said.

"In our opinion it will be in the interest of justice if these three are included..."

READ | Bihar Voter List Revision To Continue, Court Suggests These 3 IDs

The Bihar voter list revision has kicked up a massive political storm in the state, with the opposition alliance - led by the Congress and Rashtriya Janata Dal - accusing the Election Commission of acting on the directions of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party.

This exercise, they have said, will rob crores of poor and marginalised people - who may not have the documents demanded - of their right to vote, despite already being on the electoral roll and having voted in as many as 10 major elections since the last major revision in 2003.

In court today the EC dismissed these and other concerns, pointing out the Aadhaar is used to verify identity and not citizenship, and assuring the court genuine voters would not be removed.

Later in the day sources in the EC - which has been directed to file answers to the court's questions before the next hearing - insisted to NDTV the poll body is legally justified in holding a 'special intensive revision' of the voter list, and said the Aadhaar is already an accepted ID.

NDTV is now available on WhatsApp channels. Click on the link to get all the latest updates from NDTV on your chat.