All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief Asaduddin Owaisi has made serious allegations against the Election Commission. He said that the commission is secretly implementing a process like the National Register of Citizens (NRC) ahead of the upcoming assembly elections in Bihar. Owaisi called the move a threat to democracy and claimed that it could deprive thousands of Indian citizens of the right to vote.
“Cruel joke” with documentless people
Owaisi wrote in a social media post that now to get their names registered in the voter list, citizens will have to provide documents related to birth and birthplace, as well as information about the birth of parents. He called it a “cruel joke” with poor and documentless people. He specifically mentioned the Seemanchal region and said that people struggling with floods and poverty there cannot gather their documents. In such a situation, this process is like taking them away from the right to vote.
How will the exercise be done in a fair manner
Owaisi also raised the question that when the elections are near, how will such a big exercise be done in a fair manner. Citing the Supreme Court’s Lal Babu Hussain vs Election Commission case, he said that a citizen already present in the list cannot be removed without proper procedure. At the same time, there has been no formal response from the Election Commission on this issue so far.