The dharna and press conference by the united opposition at Vijay chowk today, demanding a discussion on the systemic intensive revision of the electoral roll in Bihar, is a patient attempt by the opposition in face of brazen indifference and contempt by the government and speaker alike.
The SIR is a very serious issue, hitting at the core of democratic politics, citizenship, exclusion of minorities and marginalized and also institutional integrity. If the chairman of the Rajya Sabha says that such important issues cannot be taken up in the house, this amounts to contempt of the house. The election commission functions under the Representation of people’s Act, 1951, which is a law made by the parliament and periodically amended by it. To say that the functioning of such agencies are beyond the scope of the house, is against the idea of legal sovereignty of the parliament. We must remember that while political sovereignty is the government’s domain, legal sovereignty lies with the parliament.
The apprehension of the opposition about the intent of the election commission, is justified by the absolute disregard it has shown to the opposition’s concerns and its conduct in the recent Haryana and Maharashtra elections. The commission has denied the suggestions of the Supreme Court also, in this regard. Its decision to exclude aadhar, voter epic cards and ration cards have defied all logic and raise serious doubts, because these are the only documents which are available in public digital databases and therefore can be readily verified by the opposition. Removing them, would make the voter list almost unverifiable. Earlier in the year, Ms Mamata Banerjee had shown how voters from Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat had been registered in West Bengal. Such verification was made possible by the aadhar data. Denying a discussion on such sensitive issues would affect the credibility and legitimacy of the government, parliament and the election commission also. This would seriously undermine the democratic process in the country.
Protecting the credibility of democracy
