'Every Indian will be looked at with suspicion': Congress slams nationwide SIR plan

New Delhi: Congress on Saturday asked the Election Commission not to go ahead with a Special Intensive Revision (SIR) across the country, claiming that the “BJP-controlled” poll body's action will lead to Indians being “looked at with suspicion”, rendering their “voting rights under threat” and leaving the electoral system “rigged”.

The party also said that the EC cannot per se reject the Supreme Court's “specifically worded” advice to consider accepting Aadhaar, voter’s identity card and ration card as proof during the ongoing SIR in Bihar if a voter provides them during the exercise.

Congress General Secretary (Organisation) KC Venugopal posted on 'X', “the BJP has mastered the art of taking a bad idea and making it worse. As if the chaos and opposition to the Bihar SIR was not enough, the BJP-controlled ECI now wants to subject the entire country through this trauma.”

“Every Indian citizen will be looked at with suspicion, their voting rights will be under threat, and the whole electoral system will be rigged,” Venugopal, one of the petitioners in SC against Bihar SIR, added. His comments came as the EC had in its Bihar SIR order said that it will begin the SIR in the entire country to “protect the integrity” of the electoral rolls.

Reports suggested that the EC has started preliminary work to announce SIR across the country with Chief Electoral Officers in states being informally told about the exercise.

Separately, senior lawyer and Congress Working Committee member Abhishek Singhvi claimed that misinformation is being spread about the SC order on Bihar SIR and insisted that the EC cannot insist on a “unilateral and unifocal” proof of documents mentioned in its order or press note.

The EC will have “consider the specifically worded” order “to consider” Aadhaar, Electoral Photo Identity Card and ration card as proof of document while going ahead with the SIR in Bihar. “The EC cannot per se reject these documents,” Singhvi, who appears for ten parties and PUCL in the case, said.

He said the documents suggested by the SC covers 90% of the voting population in Bihar. “One cannot ignore the letter and spirit of the SC order. It is not optional…If you violate, it is up to you,” Singhvi told a press conference.

Questioning the EC’s locus standi in ascertaining citizenship, he said, “in this entire process, citizenship is being scrutinized, but the Election Commission does not have the authority to examine the criterion of citizenship.”

He said the EC’s action has put nearly 4.5-5 crore voters who have registered as electors after 2003 in doubtful category, as they are asked to provide proof of citizenship. These are voters whose names appear in the voter’s list for several years, he said.

Singhvi also defended the decision not to seek a stay during the first hearing itself, saying the issues raised by them could be addressed in the next hearing.