Poll body must be named & shamed for non-compliance: Congress on Supreme Court's Aadhaar directive for Bihar SIR

'Repeated obstacles' were being created by the EC to "deliberately inconvenience" the registration of legitimate voters, the Congress leader said.

New Delhi: Opposition on Monday hailed the Supreme Court order to accept the Aadhaar card as the 12th document in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Bihar, calling it a "big win" for democracy while insisting that the Election Commission must be "named and shamed for the brazen non-compliance" earlier directive.

Congress General Secretary (Communications) Jairam Ramesh said it is a "mess of the Election Commission's own making" and none one other than "G2 (Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah)" asked for an SIR this close to the election.

"No one other than G2 asked for it to be conducted so ineptly that the Supreme Court has had to intervene to ensure basic checks and balances. Make no mistake, we are fighting an election against the ruling regime and despite the EC. This CEC and the institution he heads shall not be forgiven by history," he posted on 'X'.

He said, "The Election Commission must be named and shamed for its brazen non-compliance with the Supreme Court's directive to accept Aadhar as a proof of identity. Today, once again for the third time, the Supreme Court reiterated the point that Aadhar must be accepted as a valid ID to register voters."

He said "repeated obstacles" were being created by the EC to "deliberately inconvenience" the registration of legitimate voters and it has declined to accept Aadhar, and even sent notices to officials to only accept the documents it has prescribed.

Trinamool Congress Rajya Sabha Deputy Leader Sagarika Ghose called it a "big win" for the opposition and democracy.

"Remember the Election Commission was earlier refusing to accept the Aadhaar card as proof of identity and citizenship. This is a victory for all those who believe in democracy in India for all those who believe in the constitution of India, the election commission must admit that by becoming the branch office of the Bharatiya Janata Party it has failed the SIR test," she said.

Senior RJD MP Manoj K Jha said, "Thank you everyone from the legal voices in the courtroom to members of RJD and other parties and 'reporters' who have struggled to ensure that the 'Exclusion' cannot be the premise under ' fictional cover'....by EC. Thanks to the highest court of the land."

Activist Yogendra Yadav, who was one of the petitioners, said, after a two-month legal battle, the Supreme Court has "finally put an end to the conspiracy of vote suppression".

"This single decision has safeguarded the voting rights of millions of people, not only in Bihar but across the entire country," he added.