Grappling with Disenfranchisement

The whopping 65 lakh people deleted from the electoral roll in Bihar has caused a great turmoil.

It seems that this has been a calculative move.

Just a few months before assembly elections, one has to prove their identity as citizens of this great country.

We took up the challenge of going to our focus settlements to help the citizens to check their EPIC number, to ensure that they have not been 'deleted' from the rolls or declared 'dead'.

The team members visited the settlements checking the EPIC number to find out how many of the names of our people have been deleted from the electoral roll.

A sample survey in 4 settlements of the Digha Vidhan Sabha found almost 100 in each settlement deleted. This even after they had cast their votes in the 2024 General elections.

It is yet to be confirmed why these names have been deleted. It only reinstates the fact that these people belong to the lower strata of society, not being voters of the dominant ruling party at the center.

Many of our people do not have any of the eleven necessary documents for the SIR.

Having undergone this exercise, now the challenge is to ensure that their names are put back on the list, so they are eligible to vote.

It is very crucial, yet we struggle to get the forms and do it manually as uploading documents is difficult as all are availing of the site.

At the same time, we are not sure whether their names will appear in the last list which will be made public in the mid of September.

All this is happening when the rain water is causing flood and people have choices to make as to whether they save their houses, belongings, or their right to vote as citizens.

We need to become alert and ensure that our voters will be included in the electoral roll.

Denial of this right will have serious ramifications for our people, especially the minority communities, those on the periphery.