New Delhi, July 3 (IANS) The Opposition on Friday called the judiciary a “ray of hope” after as many as 23 leaders of major opposition parties jointly wrote a letter to Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant and other judges, demanding the immediate suspension of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.

The INDIA bloc and other opposition leaders alleged manipulation of the country’s electoral process in the letter to the CJI and said that they chose this unusual path because the core pillars of the republic face severe strain.

However, the BJP hit back with MP Sudhanshu Trivedi saying that the tone and language used in the letter to the Supreme Court “mirror the arrogance witnessed during the Emergency era.”

Referring to the Supreme Court’s decision in Bengal SIR, Congress leader Sandeep Dikshit said: “The court did not say that all the voter deletions were right or that all of them were wrong.”

“Some of the voters were rightfully deleted, but the Supreme Court asked those who had the documents and were wrongfully deleted to wait and vote next time. So, when the apex court itself has admitted that there is an error in this entire system, then why not take action on it immediately?” Dikshit told IANS.

He appealed to the court to form a committee, consisting of experts, that can provide directions to the government on the issue.

Shiv Sena-UBT leader Priyanka Chaturvedi said that though the Opposition is disappointed, it still has a “ray of hope” that the judiciary will discharge its responsibility.

RJD leader Tanveer Hasan alleged that the BJP has a “strategy to win elections through SIR”.

“It is good if the opposition parties have taken the matter seriously. This is an issue which goes against democracy, and the murder of democracy will not be allowed,” he said.

CPI-M leader Hannan Mollah reiterated the Opposition’s previous allegations that Constitutional establishments are being “misused” by the BJP-led Centre.

“Judiciary was the last resort during such a scenario of ‘loot’. In the last 10 to 15 years, we have been seeing that even the judgments have weakened. Judgements may come, but justice is not being delivered. Therefore, it is important to remind the judiciary to fulfil its responsibilities in order to sustain democracy,” he told IANS.

Criticising the Opposition’s move, BJP MP Trivedi said that the party “strongly condemns the letter written to the Chief Justice of India, and the failed attempt to undermine democracy”.

Addressing reporters, he said that the letter has been written by “a few political parties that treat their respective parties as personal caste fiefdoms and face repeated failure due to their constant disregard and disrespect for public sentiment”.

–IANS

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