The disturbing return of 'scientific rigging' charges
The documentary proofs required to verify citizenship under the new SIR rules are highly unusual. It seems not all citizens are presumed equal in the eyes of the Election Commission. Voters who have been enrolled after 2003, when the previous SIR was conducted, need a new set of documents that effectively delegitimises Aadhaar, voter IDs, ration cards, MGNREGA job cards and even passports. In 2025, voters need to produce birth certificates for themselves and their parents, land deeds and revenue receipts.
By adding this new list of documents, the EC has inserted itself into the vicious political clash that routinely descends into accusations of being 'anti-national', converting the accuser into a self-appointed vigilante. The disruptive format and the obvious rush to get it done have transformed the Bihar election into a confrontation between the EC and non-NDA political parties. The face-off will likely spread to West Bengal, Assam, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Puducherry, where the next round of elections are scheduled in 2026.
The list of additional documents demanded is problematic for more reasons than one. Neither the Union home ministry nor the police in states that have recently embarked on a mission to identify and deport illegal immigrants from Bangladesh accept land deeds, school certificates, revenue receipts, pension records, caste or other certificates as proof of citizenship. As it happens, some deportees submitted land deeds, school certificates and revenue receipts going back beyond a generation.
The West Bengal government has been dealing with thousands of such cases of wrongful deportation from the BJP-ruled states Haryana, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Delhi and Madhya Pradesh— where, to be Bengali-speaking, lungi-wearing and Muslim seem to be enough evidence of illegality.
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