The Congress on Monday slammed the Election Commission and said it should be named and shamed after the Supreme Court directed it to accept Aadhaar as identity proof for Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Bihar. The Opposition charged the poll body with brazen non-compliance with the Supreme Court's directions.
"The Election Commission must be named and shamed for its brazen non-compliance with the Supreme Court's directive to accept Aadhar as a proof of identity. Today, once again for the THIRD TIME, the Supreme Court reiterated the point that Aadhar must be accepted as a valid ID to register voters," Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said in a post on X.
Ramesh accused the Commission of deliberately causing inconvenience to legitimate voters while registering in the voters' list. "It has refused to recognise BLAs appointed by political parties, declined to accept Aadhar, and even sent notices to officials to only accept the documents it has prescribed. Keep in mind that this is a mess of the Election Commission's own making," Ramesh charged.
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The Congress leader alleged Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah ordered the Bihar SIR this close to the assembly polls in the state. He said the Supreme Court itself had to intervene to ensure basic checks and balances. "This CEC and the institution he heads shall not be forgiven by history," he added.
The Supreme Court on Monday directed the Election Commission to accept Aadhaar as 12th identity proof for Bihar SIR. However, the top court made it clear that Aadhaar was not a proof of citizenship.