Patna: Opposition members in Bihar Assembly on Thursday expressed concern that the special intensive revision of electoral rolls could leave many poor voters “disenfranchised” ahead of the polls.
The opposition members, who have been attending the ongoing monsoon session dressed in black as a mark of protest, were finally allowed to express their views by Speaker Nand Kishor Yadav on the penultimate day of the monsoon session.
Leader of the Opposition Tejashwi Yadav, who was the first to speak, started with an apology on behalf of his colleagues in the RJD who had behaved badly on the previous day, but also demanded that unruly members on the ruling side, too, express regret.
Yadav said, “Not only the INDIA bloc, but many NDA partners like Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu have raised questions on the special intensive revision. The EC has been claiming that infiltrators (ghuspaithiya) have been included in the voters’ list, but its affidavit before the Supreme Court makes no mention of this”.
Turning towards Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, Yadav said, “I urge the government to make sure that not a single genuine voter’s name is struck off during the exercise. Help must be extended to the hapless people who are being asked to furnish various documents by the EC”.
Similar sentiments were expressed by Congress legislature party leader Shakil Ahmed Khan, who also alleged that the special intensive revision was a “shigoofa” (gimmick) that was ordered by the EC at the instance of the BJP, which rules the Centre and shares power in the state.
CPI(ML)’s Mehboob Alam claimed that the special intensive revision was a “conspiracy aimed at depriving Dalits and other marginalised sections of their right to vote”.
Alam added, “The EC has submitted an affidavit running into more than 700 pages, which has no mention of the word infiltrator. Clearly, the talk of infiltrators is a dog-whistling tactic of the ruling NDA, which is trying to target Muslims”.
CPI(M)’s Ajay Kushwaha demanded that the mammoth exercise be “immediately stopped”.
From the ruling side, senior JD(U) leader and parliamentary affairs minister Vijay Kumar Chaudhary assured the House that “it is also the state government’s desire that no genuine voter is left out and nobody is wrongly deprived of voting rights”.
However, Deputy Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary, a BJP leader who was formerly with the RJD, sought to tease the opposition with the remark “that Bihar has infiltrators is a fact first acknowledged by Lalu Prasad way back in the 1990s when he was the chief minister”.
The Speaker subsequently began conducting Question Hour, in which members from both sides were participating. However, some members of the opposition created a ruckus demanding that they, too, be allowed to speak.
As the Speaker’s admonition left undeterred the opposition members, many of whom entered the well and waved placards, the House was adjourned till 2 pm without taking up Zero Hour.
This report is auto-generated from PTI news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.
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