New Delhi [India], July 10 : Senior Congress leader and MP Pramod Tiwari on Thursday strongly criticised the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Bihar, accusing the BJP of resorting to dishonest tactics out of fear of losing the upcoming Bihar Assembly elections.
"When the BJP is nearing its defeat in the Bihar election, it has descended into dishonesty. If neither Aadhaar nor the Ration Card is acceptable, then what is? A memorandum from the BJP office?" Tiwari said while speaking to ANI.
Backing Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's stance on the issue, Tiwari said, "Rahul Gandhi has said the correct thing. They can do whatever they want, but we have faith in the Supreme Court -- it will protect our voting rights."
The remarks came at a time when the Supreme Court was hearing petitions challenging the SIR process in Bihar.
Meanwhile, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader and Bihar Leader of Opposition Tejashwi Yadav launched a scathing attack on the Election Commission (EC), accusing it of functioning like a "party cell" of the ruling BJP.
Speaking to reporters, Yadav said, "We have approached the court and presented our side. Let's see what happens in the Court... The biggest question is, why are you rejecting Aadhaar Cards, Ration Cards, Job Cards, and MNREGA Cards? People in Bihar still lack documents. The Election Commission is not issuing any clarifications. Why can't the Commissioners hold a press conference and clarify everything? Why are they causing confusion? What ego does the EC have?"
Yadav alleged that the EC was intentionally creating confusion among voters. "It feels as if the EC is acting like a party cell of the BJP," he added.
The SIR exercise, being carried out by the EC in Bihar ahead of the assembly elections, has drawn widespread criticism from the Opposition. Several INDIA bloc leaders have labelled it a "backdoor NRC (National Register of Citizens)" aimed at "vote theft" and questioned the neutrality of the constitutional body.
On Wednesday, the INDIA bloc staged a massive "Bihar Bandh" rally in Patna against electoral roll revision exercise. The Leader of Opposition (LoP) in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, warned that electoral manipulation tactics similar to those allegedly seen in Maharashtra could be repeated in Bihar.
RJD's Tejashwi Yadav called the ECI a "Godi Aayog" while accusing the NDA alliance of using the constitutional body to remove the name of "Bihar's poor people" from the voter list.
Several senior leaders of the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) bloc, including CPI General Secretary D Raja, CPI (Marxist-Leninist) Liberation leader Dipankar Bhattacharya, Bihar Congress President Rajesh Ram, Kanhaiya Kumar, and Sanjay Yadav, also participated in the protest.
However, the Election Commission of India (ECI) has reported significant progress in Bihar's Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise, with over 57 per cent of enumeration forms collected in the first half of the designated period, reinforcing the commission's commitment to maintaining pure electoral rolls across the country.