It is heartening to see the Election Commission of India (ECI) stand firm on its now-complete Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral rolls in Bihar ahead of the upcoming elections to the state legislature. The Opposition parties have been stalling Parliament, arguing that the SIR is politically motivated and intended to deprive lakhs of voters of their voting rights. They threaten to boycott elections, too. The ECI is a constitutional body with autonomous powers and responsibilities. Those critical of its actions have approached the Supreme Court. They could have gone to the ECI itself.

The Supreme Court did raise some concerns and sought clarifications from the ECI, but it refused to stay the verification process as demanded by the petitioning NGOs. The ECI refused to budge before the political threats and reacted strongly to their criticism, asking whether “fearing these things”, it should “pave the way for some to cast fake votes in the name of deceased voters, voters who have migrated permanently, or those registered in two places, fake voters or foreign voters?”

India opted for universal adult franchise at the time of Independence, which was not so common even in Western countries. The US reached that stage only in 1965 through the Voting Rights Act. Full suffrage became a reality in the UK through the Representation of the People (Equal Franchise) Act, 1928. Learning about India’s decision, Britain’s then-Prime Minister, Clement........

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