Author: Press Trust of india

New Delhi: The BJP on Friday said the Supreme Court’s observations on the ongoing Special Intensive Revision of the electoral rolls in Bihar was a “befitting reply” to the opposition parties and demanded a “public apology” from Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and RJD’s Tejashwi Yadav for opposing the exercise.

The apex court on Thursday allowed the Election Commission of India to continue with its special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Bihar, calling it a “constitutional mandate”. It also asked the poll panel to consider Aadhaar, Voter ID and ration cards as valid documents during the exercise.

Commenting on the development, BJP national spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia said the apex court’s observations made it clear that the SIR is a process to bring transparency and fairness in voting.

The apex court has also made it clear that initiation of a special drive for intensive revision of the electoral rolls comes within the jurisdiction of the Election Commission from a constitutional point of view, he said.

“The Supreme Court’s comment is a befitting reply to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav,” the BJP leader told reporters.

He demanded that Yadav and Gandhi “publicly apologise to the people of India and Bihar”, taking cognisance of the apex court’s observations.

“Will Tejashwi Yadav accept the Supreme Court’s decision (observations) or not?’ he asked.

Bhatia asked Gandhi to explain why he was protesting on the streets of Patna a day before the Supreme Court was scheduled to hear the matter.

“This makes it clear that these leaders have no faith in the Supreme Court,” he charged.

Bhatia asked both Yadav and Gandhi to “introspect” and said, “People will keep giving a befitting reply to those parties and leaders who do not have faith in the constitution and constitutional institutions.”

The BJP leader also attacked the Congress, claiming “internal tussle” in the party over its chief minister’s face in Karnataka, and said, “While people are fed up with the Congress government in the state, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar are happy.”

The people want good governance in Karnataka, but these two leaders only want to enjoy power, he alleged.

“The people of Karnataka are asking today, who will take care of them? One leader wants to continue holding the chair (of chief minister), while the other leader wants to get it (from him),” he said in an apparent reference to Siddaramiah and Shivakumar.

“The kind of dirty politics that the Congress party is doing in Karnataka, the people of the state are suffering. This is very unfortunate,” he added.

New Delhi: The Congress on Friday said the Supreme Court order on pleas challenging the Election Commission’s special intensive revision of electoral rolls in Bihar makes it clear that “no stay was asked for by any of the petitioners”, and hoped the ruling will save a vast majority of voters from being disenfranchised.

The Supreme Court on Thursday asked the Election Commission to consider Aadhaar, voter ID and ration cards as valid documents during its ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Bihar, set to go to polls later this year.

Calling SIR a “constitutional mandate”, Justices Sudhanshu Dhulia and Joymalya Bagchi considered the submissions of senior advocate Rakesh Dwivedi, appearing for the EC, and permitted the poll panel to continue with the exercise in Bihar with over 7 crore voters.

In a post on X, Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh said, “Following the Honble Supreme Court’s order that has just come out officially, the Election Commission now has to include the EPIC, Aadhar cards, and Ration Cards in the Special Intensive Revision of the electoral rolls in Bihar. This will save a vast majority of voters from being disenfranchised,” Ramesh said on X.

“Moreover the EC’s spin on the no stay being given has been clearly exposed. Page 7 of the order makes it clear that no stay was asked for by any of the petitioners yesterday. Such deliberately misleading headline management does not befit a Constitutional authority,” he said.

Hitting back at Ramesh, the BJP accused him of misinterpreting the Supreme Court observations.

“Stop misinterpreting the Supreme Court. The Court has not mandated the acceptance of any additional documents—it has merely said it may consider them. Justice Dhulia clearly stated that the Election Commission of India (ECI) is free to record valid reasons for excluding any document. The discretion lies with the ECI,” BJP’s IT department head Amit Malviya said in his post on X.

“Deliberately misrepresenting court observations is dangerous — you could be held in contempt for attributing to the Court what it never said. Just ask Rahul Gandhi, who faced the consequences for a similar offence not long ago,” he said.

Ramesh also tagged screenshots of the court order with his post.

“Since these cases will come up before the appropriate Court prior to August 1, 2025 which is the scheduled date for notification of Draft Electoral Rolls there is no occasion presently to pass any order on the ad interim stay applications, and the petitioners in any case do not press for a stay at this stage,” the order said.

Depending on the reply of the Election Commission the petitioners would always be at liberty to press their plea for stay on the next date of listing, it said.

Terming the right to vote as an important right in a democratic country, the bench said, “We cannot stop a constitutional body from doing what it is supposed to do. Simultaneously, we will not let them do what they are not supposed to do.”

The bench in its order further noted, “After hearing both sides, we are of the opinion that three questions are involved in this case. A, the very powers of the EC to undertake the exercise, B, the procedure and the manner in which the exercise is being undertaken, and C, the timing, including the timings given for preparation of draft electoral rolls, asking objections and making the final electoral roll, etcetera, which is very short, considering the fact that Bihar election are due in November 2025.”

Underlining the need to hear the matter, the bench posted over 10 petitions challenging the drive on July 28.

The poll panel in the meantime was directed to file its response within a week following which the rejoinder from the petitioners could be filed a week thereafter.

The bench took on record the poll panel’s statement that the list of 11 documents it had to consider for SIR was not exhaustive.

“Therefore, in our view, since the list is not exhaustive, it would be in the interest of justice if the ECI will also consider the following three documents, such as Aadhaar card, voter ID card, and ration card,” the bench ordered.

The poll panel, represented by senior advocate Rakesh Dwivedi and senior advocates K K Venugopal and Maninder Singh, however, objected to this part of the order.

“We are not saying you have to. It is up to you to consider. We are saying it looks that way. They are genuine. If you have a good reason to discard then discard it. But give reasons,” Justice Dhulia remarked.

New Delhi:  CPI(M) leaders Brinda Karat and Anurag Saxena on Friday wrote to Home Minister Amit Shah, and said they have received several complaints of “harassment of genuine citizens” during the ongoing exercise for “identification of illegal Bangladeshi immigrants” on grounds that they speak Bengali.

In a letter addressed to the home minister, the CPI(M) leaders said they heard complaints of human rights violations, harassment and extortion.

Karat, a former MP and special invitee to CPI(M) Politburo, and Saxena, Delhi state secretary of the party, said they, along with a team, visited Delhi’s Bawana JJ colony and met several of the complainants.

“We were shocked to find blatant violation of minimum human rights, harassment and in some cases, corruption amounting to extortion,” the CPI(M) leaders alleged.

They noted that the exercise was being carried out by Delhi Police and several other agencies under directions from the Union Home Ministry.

Listing out the cases, they gave cited the story of one Md Nizamuddin who said he was from Godda district, Jharkhand, and had migrated to Delhi several decades ago.

“He was allotted a plot by DDA in 2004 in Bawana JJ colony and presently resides there. On July 5, a team of police personnel from the local thana went to his house and accused him of helping a Bangladeshi to get illegal papers.

“He explained to the police that the tenant was staying there three years ago and he had no contact and had no idea of the person’s whereabouts,” the CPI(M) leaders said.

They said he was taken to the police station again on July 6, and also allegedly beaten up. While he was released later, the CPI(M) leaders said they were told photographs of the family had been uploaded on a police site.

“All such photos should be deleted from police records as the family are bonafide Indian citizens who have committed no crime. Also, action should be taken against those who beat Nizamuddin in custody,” they said.

The letter also gave the example of one Sajan Saudagar Das from the jhuggi settlement in Bawana C block, who was picked up by the police on May 6 and taken to Pritampura thana. The CPI(M) leaders alleged he was badly beaten by two policemen who abused him saying that he should “confess” that he was a Bangladeshi.

They added that the police later said he was picked up “by mistake”, and had picked him up as they received information that he was speaking in Bengali, the CPI(M) leaders said.

Another example cited by the leaders mentioned three women aged between 60 and 70 years who came to India as children, got married and have families here.

The letter also gave examples from Vivekanand camp in Chanakyapuri, where they alleged police took away ID documents from Bengalis and were returned later after intervention by some activists.

“The process of identification of illegal immigrants from Bangladesh in the capital of India is an example of violation of minimum human rights. In the process, genuine Indian citizens are being targeted on grounds of language and religion. Is it now a crime in India to speak Bengali?” the CPI(M) leaders questioned.

“Further, are all Bengali speaking Muslim citizens of India to be treated as criminals and illegal immigrants? We would like to remind you that 26 per cent of the population of West Bengal are Bengali speaking Muslims.” they said.

The CPI(M) leaders also said there are international norms for deportation of illegal immigrants. “The present methods of identification in Delhi violate all such norms,” they added.

Bhubaneswar:  Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Friday accused the BJP of making attempts to “hijack upcoming elections in Bihar, as it did in Maharashtra”.

Addressing the party’s ‘Samvidhan Bachao Samavesh’ here, Gandhi, the leader of opposition in the Lok Sabha, said the INDIA bloc parties have decided to prevent the BJP from “hijacking” the Bihar assembly polls.

“Like Maharashtra, attempts are being made to hijack the elections in Bihar. The BJP is attacking our Constitution across the country,” Gandhi alleged.

During an INDIA bloc meeting held on Thursday, it was decided to “prevent the BJP from hijacking the elections in Bihar” where assembly polls are due later this year, he claimed.

He also accused the Election Commission of India (ECI) of “not doing its duty but working for the interest of the BJP”.

Gandhi also alleged, “The BJP runs the government for five to sin capitalists. It does not work for the common people of the country.”

Stating that the ‘Jal, Jangal, Jamin’ (water, forest and land) belongs to the tribals and will remain for them, Gandhi claimed that Odisha’s BJP government has “not implemented” the Panchayats (Extension to Scheduled Areas) Act, 1996.

“Forest rights pattas are not provided to the tribals. The Congress has brought the PESA and Tribal Bill. We will enforce these laws and ensure the tribals get their land,” Gandhi said.

He alleged, “Odisha is being looted by the BJP government, similar to what the BJD did during its tenure.”