Latest news with #–Leninist
The Hindu
2 days ago
- Politics
- The Hindu
No foreign voters in Bihar SIR list; Modi brings divisive agenda: CPI(ML)
Communist Party of India (Marxist–Leninist) general secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya has welcomed the interim order of the Supreme Court on the special intensive revision (SIR) of the voters list in Bihar. He said the Election Commission of India (ECI) is forced to back off from its stand on the matter and hoped that the poll body will ensure transparency in preparing voters' lists and provide details for the reasons of the omission of voters published in the draft list. Countering Prime Minister Narendra Modi's statement on Independence Day that illegal immigration is threatening the country's demography, Mr. Bhattacharya said the SIR exercise in Bihar did not bring out a single case of illegal immigrants in the State. 'PM Modi gave his longest Independence Day speech, but the important point is that the theme of Independence Day is now being reduced to partition. It is as if the government is trying to finish the incomplete agenda of partition,' he said. He maintained that out of the 65 lakh voters who have been disenfranchised, no one was a foreign national. 'But once again, Modi ji has brought back that agenda, completely unsubstantiated, the bogey of illegal immigration, infiltration. And the things that they are doing to change our demography, taking away all jobs, occupying land, getting married to women and forcing conversion. This is a total anti-immigrant agenda of the RSS and BJP. This is what led to partition, perhaps they want another partition...' he said. He asked how the Centre concluded on the number of foreign nationals entering India illegally, when there has been no Census since 2011. 'It has created a tone of terror in the country, it has created major insecurity, and when you sort of view it together with the ongoing SIR, the backdoor NRC, the ongoing so-called police verification drive, the MHA circular, so it creates before us the danger of a huge social division and the creation of a permanent category of disenfranchised people,' he said.
The Hindu
11-07-2025
- Politics
- The Hindu
CPI(ML) warns of SIR rollout in West Bengal, flags disenfranchisement fears
General Secretary of the Communist Party of India (Marxist–Leninist) Liberation, Dipankar Bhattacharya, on Friday (July 11, 2025) raised serious concerns about the impending rollout of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in West Bengal, warning that the exercise could lead to the mass disenfranchisement of voters. 'It is no secret that what is happening in Bihar will start in West Bengal very soon. The Election Commission of India has openly said that this exercise will be undertaken in all States. This came as a shock to the people of Bihar, but the people of West Bengal have been warned,' Mr. Bhattacharya said. Addressing a press conference in Kolkata, Mr. Bhattacharya claimed that, as in Bihar, the SIR could potentially leave 'multiple crores' off the electoral rolls in West Bengal, particularly affecting migrant workers and students. Also Read | The dark signs of restricted or selective franchise 'West Bengal's migrant workers are in terrible condition across the country. They are being assaulted in Odisha, Maharashtra, Haryana; they are being insulted, murdered. The terms Bangladeshi and Banglabhasi (Bengali speakers) are being switched and acted upon interchangeably. When a hysteria is already being created around Bengali speakers as Bangladeshi infiltrators, we can only imagine what impact SIR can have on this State,' he said. Mr. Bhattacharya said the issue is currently under judicial scrutiny, with the Supreme Court hearing petitions challenging the legality of the SIR. He noted that the outcome of the proceedings would apply not just to Bihar but to all States where the revision exercise is being planned. Condemning the SIR, the CPI(ML) leader called for widespread protests and public mobilisation. 'They should call SIR a surgical invasive reconstruction. It is a surgical, invasive reconstruction of the voter list. It aims to create a truncated, selective electorate by going against the universal voting rights that the Constitution accords to every Indian without discrimination. It is essentially a citizenship test where, within one month, rightful voters have to prove their citizenship based on an indicative, not exhaustive, list of documents,' he said.
