Indian parliament starts monsoon season: will voter roll change create political storm?
India’s opposition plans to confront Modi’s government over the controversial revision of electoral rolls in Bihar
Just months before crucial state elections, the Election Commission of India in June announced a sweeping revision of Bihar’s electoral rolls in a move that has ignited a political firestorm.
Opposition parties and activists have taken to the streets and courts, warning that the overhaul could disenfranchise more than 30 million voters, many from already marginalised communities.
“Preferred voters are being added in Bihar and the ones which are not preferred by the Bharatiya Janata Party are being ejected out of the electoral process by the election commission,” Pramod Tiwari, a senior leader with the main opposition Indian National Congress, said at a press conference on Saturday while listing the opposition’s agenda for the session.
Under the exercise, residents are required to submit birth certificates to establish nationality and, in some cases, certificates for their parents – akin to proving citizenship – along with a list of government-issued documents.