"Rights Of Voters Being Snatched": Jairam Ramesh On Voter List Revision
Congress General Secretary Jairam Ramesh on Wednesday criticised the decision of the Election Commission to determine citizenship of Indian nationals, accusing them of doing "NRC through back door" over the poll-body's decision to Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral rolls ahead of the Bihar Assembly election and stated that the constitutional rights of voters were being snatched.
He further questioned why the exercise was being conducted four to five months before the Bihar assembly polls, further stating that there was an atmosphere of fear in Bihar.
"The constitutional rights of the voters are being snatched...The matter is pending before the Supreme Court...It is not the responsibility of the Election Commission to prove citizenship. Why is this exercise being conducted four to five months before the assembly polls?... There is an atmosphere of fear in Bihar..." Mr Ramesh told ANI.
Earlier on July 15, All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) president Asaduddin Owaisi has questioned the authority of the Election Commission of India to determine citizenship of Indian nationals, accusing them of doing "NRC through back door" over the poll-body's decision to Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral rolls ahead of the Bihar Assembly election.
Speaking with ANI, Mr Owaisi said. "Who gave the ECI the power to determine whether someone is a citizen or not? Our party was the first to say that SIR is NRC through the back door."
Mr Owaisi also questioned the result of the last SIR conducted in Bihar in 2003"We demand the number of those BLOs. We will ask our party members to meet those BLOs and ask them where the people from Nepal, Myanmar and Bangladesh are that they are talking about... The SIR was conducted in 2003. How many foreign nationals were revealed at that time?"
Mr Owaisi continued his verbal tirade not just on the ruling alliance and ECI but also on the INDIA bloc by ruling out the possibility of joining the alliance and accusing it of suppressing the new leaders.
"One-sided love is not going to happen. The people of Bihar should understand that the accusations that were made against us were based on lies and were made because they do not want a leader of the poor and oppressed people to become their political leadership," Mr Owaisi said while speaking to ANI.
"They just want you to remain their slaves, to walk behind them with your head bowed," Mr Owaisi added.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Hindu
11 minutes ago
- The Hindu
Prepare to be unseated in 2026, Suvendhu tells Mamata; parties ramp up rhetoric
Leader of Opposition in the West Bengal Assembly, Suvendu Adhikari, said on Monday (July 21, 2025) that he would 'make Mamata Banerjee the former Chief Minister of the State' in the Assembly elections of 2026. 'Trinamool has challenged us by declaring that they will win more seats in 2026. I am also challenging them — I defeated you in Nandigram in 2021; I will make you the former Chief Minister in 2026,' Mr. Adhikari said, directing his remark at West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. The BJP MLA staged a protest march to Uttarkanya, the branch secretariat of the West Bengal Government in Siliguri, on Monday, the same day that Trinamool supremo Ms. Banerjee spelled out the party's political line at the party's 33rd Martyrs' Day event in Dharmatala, Central Kolkata. Demands revision of poll rolls 'We want Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the voter list here, like in Bihar. Everyone can rest assured that the tortured Hindus who have come from Bangladesh are refugees, not infiltrators… But we will not allow even one Rohingya Muslim or Bangladeshi Muslim to remain on the voters' lists,' Mr. Adhikari said during the programme. The Chief Minister, in her address on Monday, stated that 40 lakh voters have been disenfranchised in Bihar due to SIR, and that if the same is done in West Bengal, massive agitations and gherao programmes will be conducted. Mr. Adhikari also took a jab at Trinamool, claiming that the ruling dispensation had questioned the religious identity of the Rajbanshi and Matua communities of West Bengal, which constitute a large portion of the State's scheduled caste population. The two communities have been a source of political contention between the two parties and are expected to exert significant electoral influence in the upcoming Assembly polls. At the Trinamool rally at Dharmatala, Ms. Banerjee brought on stage Uttam Kumar Brajabashi, the 55-year-old Rajbanshi farmer from Coochbehar, who had received an NRC notice from the Assam Foreigners Tribunal. 'The Chief Minister claims she has given everyone employment in this State. Then why are there 60 lakh migrant workers from West Bengal? Why are 2 crore 15 lakh people unemployed? Why is there no industry? She has no answers,' Mr. Adhikari said at the rally. He also announced that he will visit Cooch Behar on August 4. BJP here to stay Meanwhile, the recently appointed State president of the BJP, Samik Bhattacharya, said on Monday that the Chief Minister will 'not see India or the Central government be free of the BJP in her lifetime.' 'The Trinamool is attacking the Bengali language. They are attacking Rabindranath Tagore, Vande Mataram, and the works of Bankim Chandra Chatterjee. They are trying to erase the history of West Bengal,' Mr. Bhattacharya claimed. At Kharagpur in West Bengal's Paschim Medinipur, former BJP MLA Dilip Ghosh organised a separate party programme 'to pay tribute to our martyred party workers who lost their lives to political violence.' The Trinamool Congress has been observing Martyrs' Day in Central Kolkata on July 21 with a massive rally for over two decades to pay tribute to 13 people killed in police firing during an agitation by the West Bengal Youth Congress on 21 July 1993. 'I believe this is Trinamool's final Martyrs' Day programme. Next year, Trinamool itself will get martyred. They will not be able to observe this day next year,' Mr. Ghosh said.
The Hindu
11 minutes ago
- The Hindu
SC verdict is a resounding slap on face of Centre's vendetta politics, says CM
Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has termed the Supreme Court's verdict rejecting the Enforcement Directorate's appeal to investigate his wife Parvathi, in connection with the MUDA site allotment case, as a 'resounding slap on the face of the Central Government's vendetta politics'. In a release, the Chief Minister said: 'This verdict has not only exposed the malice behind the case but has also unequivocally cleared our names of all the baseless allegations.' 'I humbly welcome the verdict delivered by Chief Justice B.R. Gavai and Justice K. Vinod Chandran of the Supreme Court. Throughout my long political career, I have always bowed before the Constitution and the rule of law. This verdict upholds and protects that very belief,' he said. He said: 'Unable to defeat me politically, the BJP and its allies stooped to misusing constitutional agencies like the CBI and ED to fabricate baseless cases against my wife and harass my family. This is not just an abuse of power but also a disgraceful and cowardly act. The mental agony we have been subjected to will forever remain a painful chapter in our lives.' Referring to Chief Justice Gavai's remarks that 'electoral battles must be fought through the people, not through the misuse of institutions like the ED', Mr. Siddaramaiah said these words reflect the voice of his own conscience and of every Constitution-believing Indian. 'This is the voice of justice rising against tyranny,' he maintained. 'This verdict restores faith in the judiciary, especially among all who have fallen victim to the BJP's political witch hunt over the past 10 to 11 years,' the Chief Minister said. 'Even now, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah must wake up and stop weaponising constitutional agencies for political gain. It is time they restore the autonomy of these institutions and cleanse themselves of the sins of political misuse,' he demanded. He also demanded that 'the BJP and JD (S) leaders in Karnataka should publicly apologise if they have even an ounce of dignity or shame left.' Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Minister Priyank Kharge too launched a counter-attack at the Opposition by demanding that Leader of Opposition in the Assembly R. Ashok and BJP State president B.Y. Vijayendra should resign if they have any dignity left in them.
News18
20 minutes ago
- News18
How a thief named Kolappan saved V S Achuthanandans life
Thiruvananthapuram, Jul 21 (PTI) Long before he became Chief Minister of Kerala, V S Achuthanandan lived through one of the darkest chapters of political resistance in Indian history. Among the many struggles he faced, one moment stands out –when a thief, Kolappan, unknowingly became the man who saved his life. According to accounts carried by Deshabhimani, the mouthpiece of the CPI(M), this extraordinary episode took place in 1946, during the brutal aftermath of the Punnapra-Vayalar uprising in coastal Alappuzha against the alleged brutal suppression of people's movement by Diwan Sir C P Ramaswamy Iyer who served Travancore monarchy. Achuthanandan had gone underground on party instructions as police cracked down on leaders of the undivided Communist Party. He was eventually captured from a hideout in Poonjar in Kottayam district, betrayed by local rivals, and taken to Pala police lock-up. What followed was nothing short of torture. Policemen, led by a notorious officer, beat him mercilessly, demanding the whereabouts of other senior leaders like E M S Namboodiripad and P Krishna Pillai. He refused to say a word. They tied his hands, beat his legs with sticks, and finally stabbed his leg with a bayonet. Bleeding heavily, Achuthanandan lost consciousness. Thinking he was dead, the police decided to dispose of his body quietly. Since there was no official record of his arrest, they believed they could cover up his death. They wrapped his body in his mundu (dhoti) and placed him under the seat of a police jeep. A thief named Kolappan, also in custody at the time, was made to assist them. The plan was to bury the 'body" somewhere in the forest. But as the jeep moved through the night, Kolappan noticed something — Achuthanandan was still breathing. Kolappan alerted the police that the man they thought was dead was, in fact, alive. The police then rushed him to the government hospital in Pala. He survived — though it took weeks of treatment to recover from the injuries. Soon after, he was re-arrested in connection with another political case and sent to Alappuzha sub-jail. He later served time in Thiruvananthapuram's Poojappura Central Jail as prisoner number 8957. He was released in 1949. Achuthanandan, who died on Monday at the age of 101, carried the scars of this ordeal for the rest of his life — both physical and emotional. PTI TGB TGB KH view comments First Published: July 21, 2025, 21:15 IST Disclaimer: Comments reflect users' views, not News18's. Please keep discussions respectful and constructive. Abusive, defamatory, or illegal comments will be removed. News18 may disable any comment at its discretion. By posting, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
