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Political slugfest over SC order on deleted voters

Political slugfest over SC order on deleted voters

Time of Indiaa day ago
Patna: The state's political arena erupted on Thursday after the Supreme Court directed the Election Commission (EC) to publish details of 65 lakh voters whose names were deleted during the special intensive revision (SIR) of the electoral rolls in the state.
Opposition parties described the order as a "triumph of unity and struggle" while the ruling NDA dismissed the celebration as "misplaced".
"This decision will strengthen democracy," said opposition leader Tejashwi Prasad Yadav. He alleged the EC sought to hide facts "through fraud and deceit." State Congress chief Rajesh Kumar called the verdict "a victory for the people of Bihar and the Constitution,". "Now, the game of stealing votes will not continue in Bihar," he said.
CPI-ML general secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya said the order validated long-standing objections to the SIR.
However, JD(U) leader and minister Vijay Kumar Choudhary said the opposition was "patting its back unnecessarily," adding that lists had already been shared with booth-level agents. He said, "The SC has reprimanded the opposition for defaming a constitutional body and ruled out objections over the timing of SIR."
HAM (S) spokesperson Shyam Sundar Sharan said the court had rejected attempts to scrap the SIR altogether. "The SC has clearly stated that the voter list cannot remain static," he said, stressing the need to remove names of the deceased or migrated.
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