New Delhi, Aug 14 (IANS) Congress general secretary KC Venugopal on Thursday hailed the Supreme Court’s ruling on the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Bihar as a “massive victory for democracy” and a strong message to those who sought to “distort the electoral process.”

Reacting to the verdict, Venugopal, one of the petitioners in the case, said the apex court’s directions would significantly enhance transparency in the SIR process and protect the voting rights of millions.

“The Court has ordered that machine-readable electoral rolls be made available – in line with one of the central demands of Rahul ji’s press conference,” he said in a post on X.

The Supreme Court also directed the Election Commission of India (ECI) to swiftly publish details of the 65 lakh names deleted during the SIR in Bihar. Venugopal termed this a crucial step in “bringing much-needed transparency” to the exercise.

In a move welcomed by the Congress, the court also directed the ECI to specifically add the Aadhaar Card to its list of 11 documents, which have been specified as acceptable documents. On this, Venugopal stressed that in a state like Bihar, Aadhaar is “the most widely held document by the poor and marginalised,” making its inclusion vital for preventing disenfranchisement.

Calling the verdict “an important first step” in the battle against what he described as the “draconian and disastrous SIR process,” Venugopal accused the poll panel of “malpractices and complicity in vote rigging.” He vowed that the opposition’s campaign to expose these issues would continue “with renewed vigour.”

The Congress and other opposition parties have repeatedly attacked the ECI over the SIR in Bihar, alleging large-scale and arbitrary deletions of voters, particularly from weaker sections of society. The SIR, which is meant to clean up electoral rolls, became a flashpoint in the state after reports of mass deletions emerged last month.

–IANS

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