Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral roll is more treacherous having wider political and economic implication than the National Register of Citizens (NRC) which is a register maintained by the Indian government to record the names of genuine Indian citizens. NRC differentiates between citizens and those who may be considered illegal immigrants or foreigners, in reality it specifically aims at isolating the Muslims, who constitute around 28 per cent of the population and deny them the status and right to Indian citizenship.
The SIR threatens the existence of the poor and Dalit, irrespective of the fact whether they are Muslims or Hindus. Some politicians and academics view the SIR as an instrument being implemented by Narendra Modi to win the assembly elections in Bihar and Bengal. But it is a wrong perception. Narendra Modi and Amit Shah made their intentions clear that it has got a national importance and would be implemented across the country. Of course Bihar is the first destination as the elections would be held in October-November this year.
Pasmanda Muslims and Dalits, extremely poor, who constitute nearly 65 per cent of the population would be the major victims. Alacrity shown by Modi-Shah in implementing this scheme of courses raises question: why are they in such a hurry? RSS has been consistently working on the plan to declassify the Muslims as Indians and identify them as foreigners. But some of the recent statements of RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat made it abundantly clear that RSS has slightly amended its action plan and wants to identify with the rich or upper caste Muslims, the Ashrafs. Pasmanda Muslims are poor and akin to Dalits. Among South Asian Muslims, “Ajlaf” refers to a social category, primarily those who converted to Islam from other Indian communities. They are lower in social hierarchy than the “Ashraf” group, which typically claims Arab or foreign descent. It is irony the RSS is willing to befriend Ashraf, who primarily have foreign origin, but keep away from Ajlaf. BJP Muslim leaders are mostly from Ashraf.
For decades, the RSS has been striving to penetrate the Dalits and Adivasis and bracket Dalits with Hindus. But in recent years the RSS leaders have come to realise that Dalits are not too keen to shift their loyalty and stance. They will have to play the subservient role under the saffron ecosystem. Though dalit leaders like Chirag Paswan or Jitan Ram Majhi have sided with the BJP, they have not succeeded to project themselves as the dalit face. They are using their dalit identity for political gains. It is a fact these leaders never at no stage spearheaded Dalits’ fight against upper caste exploitation and repression. The Dalits, harijans and poor have antagonistic relations with the upper caste lords who constitute the social and political base of RSS and BJP.
With the intensification of clash of supremacy with Mohan Bhagwat, the Gujarati duo has brought about a change in their strategy. They were further compelled to make a shift with Rahul Gandhi emerging as the new face of politics of social justice. Lok Sabha elections had sent a clear message that Dalits and Pasmanda Muslims are going back to Congress. Modi-Shah were left with the task to find a new social base. They have got it in upper caste and the middle class of India. Incidentally some recent surveys have made it clear that a major section of the Modi Bhakts are from the middle class.
Modi-Shah’s urgency for their survival is so acute that that they are not hesitant to changing the basic identity and political contour and culture of India. Modi has never been considerate and concerned to the miseries and plights of the poor and dalit is a known truth. Under his rule the economic and social condition of the lower middle class and poor has deteriorated . Their new strategy, SIR, will further pauperise them. With denial of voting right, they will be converted into stateless people. The original Indians will turn aliens in their own land.
CPI(ML) general secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya has sought a clarification from Election Commission of India about the need and relevance of the SIR. Terming the move as misleading he questioned the ECI claim that the SIR is revised annually. The last time a SIR was conducted was 22 years ago. It is certainly not a routine annual exercise.
ECI has been violating the basic right of the people to vote. Ever since adult voting system was implemented the EC has never asked a voter to prove his citizenship. Bhattacharya said; “Only citizens are entitled to vote, but never before in India electors were asked to prove their citizenship. The onus was on the state to prove otherwise. Now every elector is being doubted and asked to prove his or her citizenship with the help of documents that many in India still do not possess. It is the state’s responsibility to register every birth. No birth becomes invalid because of non-registration. Rather than asking people to excavate past records, let the state ensure universal registration of births and deaths to ensure automatic updating of records.”
Drawing a similarity with Notebandi of Modi, Bhattacharya sees it as “votebandi” by Modi. He also questioned the rationale of ECI making some small changes. He says: “ It is little consolation to know that voters who can trace their legacy to the 2003 electoral roll will not have to provide birth records of their parents. The question is not so much about numbers, it is about the process and its consequence. While the ECI now seeks to provide false comfort by talking of the 4.96 crore voters who will not have to submit documents, what about the 3 crore who will have to submit them? What about the massive number of electors who are likely to be disenfranchised in the process?”
On June 24 the EC issued instructions for holding SIR in Bihar, stating that the last such exercise was conducted in the state in 2003. The ECI in its letter also mentioned “Various reasons such as rapid urbanisation, frequent migration, young citizens becoming eligible to vote, non-reporting of deaths has necessitated conduct of SIR”. ECI’s directives give the impression that the Commissioner and his men have directly descended from heaven and are not aware of the ground realities prevalent in India.
According NITI Aayog Report 2023, about 88% Bihar population still resides in rural areas while its literacy rate at 61.8% is much lower than the national average of 73%. How will the migrant workers, who are not in Bihar get the forms and how many electors in rural Bihar will be computer-literate enough to download them, or will have the equipment to do so, or will have adequate supply of electricity to do so? ECI has been demanding a lot of information which are completely unwanted and irrelevant. Will Chief Election Commissioner, Gyanesh Kumar clarify why ECI is demanding more and more information from voters and it is not also clear why this kind of information is important.
Is Kumar unaware of the fact that around 53 per cent of the rural people in Bihar live in thatched houses. Every year their huts are ravaged by floods. How could the EC dare to ask these people to produce their domestic or educational documents. Had they been educated, like the EC officials who pass orders obeying to the dictates of their political masters, should not have been toiling under sun and rain. They would not have migrated to faraway places from their native villages. Who wants to leave his house and live a beggars life? CEC must feel ashamed at issuing this nature of order which is purely meant to keep his political masters in good humour.
ECI instead of owing its own failures, has been putting the responsibility for inclusion/deletion from the electoral rolls on the voters. The timing of the exercise is also a matter of concern. Kumar could have waited for completion of Bihar election. Heaven would not have fallen at some months delay.
Incidentally most of the political parties who had attended the meeting convened by the Bihar CEO on June 25, 2025 had opposed this exercise and called for its abandonment. The ECI will turn the electoral procedure into mockery as around 4.96 crore electors in Bihar need to submit documents by July 30. It is absolutely not possible for daily wage earners working in far south to comply with the ECI order. (IPA Service)
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