Owaisi Slams Bihar Voter List Revamp as 'Backdoor NRC
By : Krishna Mishra
All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief Asaduddin Owaisi on Wednesday labelled the Special Intensive Revision ( SIR) exercise being carried out by the Election Commission of India ( ECI) in Bihar ahead of the upcoming assembly polls as "backdoor NRC (National Register of Citizens)".
He said that the "intensive revision" of the voter list in Bihar serves to "disempower the poorest people and paves the way for their exclusion from citizenship".
"The Bihar backdoor NRC serves two clear purposes: it disempowers the poorest people of Bihar and paves the way for their exclusion from citizenship. In this country, voting is the only real power the poor have. That right cannot be snatched away just because someone doesn't have a specific document," Owaisi posted on X.
He stated that the next step for those who fail to produce the required documents would be the denial of basic citizenship rights, including ration cards and the right to own agricultural land. The AIMIM chief stated that the "intensive revision" happening now casts doubts on all previous voter registrations and elections that the ECI oversaw earlier.
Once someone is removed from the electoral rolls for not being able to produce documents, the next step is predictable: they will be denied basic citizenship rights--ration cards, passports, the right to own agricultural land. Such individuals will be left vulnerable to blackmail and extortion," Owaisi said.
"By launching this so-called 'Intensive Revision,' the Election Commission of India (ECI) is casting doubt on all previous voter registrations and elections that it itself oversaw.