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New Delhi: Leading English newspapers of the country on April 10 criticised the conduct of the special intensive revision (SIR) of the electoral rolls in poll-bound Bengal, where over 90 lakh people have been deleted and 27 lakh who are pending adjudication will not be able to vote in the upcoming elections. The editorials highlighted the worrying actions by the Election Commission, and the credibility of an election conducted after large-scale exclusion.

The Hindustan Times has drawn attention to the role of the Election Commission in making Indian democracy a thriving one, where despite poverty and illiteracy a young nation showed the world in 1951-52 that it could not only successfully value every citizen’s vote equally but also establish a distinct model of elections across a large and diverse landscape. It said that the credit for the deep roots of Indian democracy lies in large part with the Election Commission, which is why the poll body’s present actions in are “much more disquieting.”

“In India, the executive is responsible for selecting election commissioners. Despite some past controversies, ECI has largely managed to rise above partisan politics and ensure credible polls-especially after largescale reforms ushered in by T.N. Seshan. It should not risk denting its standing with one controversy after another, no matter the provocation. Its recent actions threaten to create a perception of bias-something that has sullied a number of other institutions in the country. Instead ECI should work to safeguard its well earned reputation as the guardian of the world’s largest democracy.”

While the SIR in Bihar was also contentious, in West Bengal the conduct of the exercise has resulted in mass exclusion and disenfranchisement. Unlike in other states, 60 lakh voters were rushed through a rapid adjudication process. Of this 60 lakh,  roughly 32.68 lakh were found eligible, while 27.16 lakh were declared ineligible. Set against the broader pre-revision numbers, the total electorate has been slashed by 11.61%. 

These 27 lakh people will now be going to the 19 tribunals set up under the supervision of the Supreme Court, where their appeals will be heard. However, there is no certainty whether their appeals will be heard by the first phase of polls due on April 23, and the second on April 29. The Supreme Court last week declined to set a deadline for the state’s appellate tribunals to decide on appeals from those left out of the electoral rolls.

The Deccan Herald in its editorial said that the absence of a deadline will entail a long process of redress which is yet to gather pace.

“The absence of lakhs of voters from the rolls can potentially influence the electoral outcome. An election conducted after such a large-scale exclusion cannot be fair or credible. The onus is on the Court to intervene and reset the system, again, and enable every citizen to exercise their democratic right,” it said.

In its editorial, The Hindu has noted that the anger against the contentious SIR process has shifted the poll narrative from governance issues, the need for generation of employment and industrial growth to identity issues.

“The anger on the ground over the SIR and the onerous burdens placed on electors to prove their eligibility, due to largely a flawed enumeration process adopted by an insouciant ECI, has now become an election issue on its own, sidestepping civic and governance issues,” it said.

“The Trinamool has projected the discontents over the SIR as a consequence of the Centre’s and the ECI’s machinations, while the BJP has wielded the SIR as a tool to polarise elections on religious lines. West Bengal desperately requires a polity where contestation is over how to revive employment-driven industrial growth in a largely agrarian and services economy, not over the religious and linguistic identities of voters.”

© The Wire