Electoral Democracy on Trial

Even as V-Dem of Sweden, which studies functioning of democracy in different countries, uncharitably describes India as an ‘elected autocracy’, country’s electoral democracy is on trial with allegations running thick and fast by opposition parties over Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voters’ list in Bihar, and alleged manipulation of electoral rolls in Mahadevapura assembly constituency in Central Bangalore Lok Sabha constituency in 2024 general election.

Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi opened a can of worms last month alleging inclusion of non-existent voters in the list by more than one lakh in the Mahadevapura Assembly constituency. Rahul Gandhi described it as a ‘vote chori’ and went on a campaign in Bihar along with Tejashwi Yadav, leader of opposition in Bihar Assembly which is going to poll this coming November. He said the ‘chori’ began in 2012 Gujarat Assembly election and has been going on since then, including in 2014 Lok Sabha election.

Meanwhile, Jharkhand Assembly passed a resolution against conducting of SIR in the state. Former Secretary General, Lok Sabha, PDT Achari has pointed out legal infirmities in SIR. Beginning SIR in July in Bihar is violation of The Representation of The People Act which says that the first of January shall be the qualifying date.

SIR was mired in controversy from beginning over its launching just five months before the due state election and a year after the Lok Sabha poll, and excluding Aadhar and Ration cards as valid documents for inclusion of names in the voters’ list. The commission said that since the two documents are not the valid papers on which an individual, seeking to be registered as a voter, can prove his or her citizenship, they cannot be taken as a proof for inclusion of names in the list.

Quoting the Representation of The People Act, the commission said only a citizen can register himself or herself as a voter. It is a valid point. But the commission is not empowered to decide the issue of citizenship. Its stress on it while including or excluding voters from the list sounds weird.

Opposition leaders also opposed this stand of the commission saying it has no authority to check citizenship of potential voters. Meanwhile, the commission kept on changing the rules of the SIR with the Supreme Court ultimately asking it to accept Aadhar cards for inclusion of names in the voters’ list.

To Rahul Gandhi’s charges of manipulation of voters’ list, the commission asked for an affidavit from him listing the allegations, failing which an apology to the nation. The two issues have acquired political dimensions with BJP accusing the opposition of preventing the commission from deleting the names of illegal immigrants from the voters’ list, while the opposition charging the ruling party at the centre with winning elections by manipulating the electoral rolls.

Earlier this year, the issue of duplicate voters also made headlines for a few months. West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee raised this issue after the TMC workers flagged it following door to door survey in the state. It cooled down after the election commission promised to address it.

Meanwhile, the election commission has deleted names of 65 lakh voters from the draft electoral rolls following the conclusion of the first phase of SIR, declaring them as dead or shifted out of the state.

The commission left the deleted voters in the dark as it refused to share their details under the garb of rules not making it mandatory. When many people, who alleged that they had been declared dead in the list, came up and declared themselves alive and had tea with Rahul Gandhi at his residence, the Supreme Court ordered the commission to share the details with the deleted voters, including the reasons for their names not finding a place in the list.

The court directed that the details would be provided both online and offline. It further said that the deleted voters could file claims and objections with Aadhar cards as proof of their eligibility. The final voters' list will out be on September 1. The question is will all the voters' whose names do not appear in the list be able to file objections and claims within the 11 days after the commission asked them to use Aadhar as a valid document as directed by the Supreme Court.

The court took undue time to decide the validity of Aadhar as proof even after the commission categorically said it would not allow the document. But strangely, the Form 6 meant for new voters has two columns, one to write Aadhar-Id number and the other to make a declaration of not having the card.

The court made it also clear to the commission that the aim of the SIR should be inclusion, not exclusion. The conduct of the commission in ordering SIR raises many questions. Its suddenness without prior notice to the voters to be ready with valid documents found them rushing from one office to another for the documents. The exclusion of Adhaar and ration cards added to their woes.

As is well known, people in rural areas are not very particular in obtaining relevant documents. They are serious about obtaining only those documents which bring them material benefits or without which they cannot move a step.

As ration cards are mandatory for getting free food grains and Aadhar cards obtaining NAREGA jobs, they obtain them even by paying bribes to the local officials, particularly for ration cards. So, the exclusion of these documents by the commission in SIR was quite surprising.

Experts say that India's performance as a liberal democracy has suffered in the past few years. Free speech is being curbed on flimsy grounds. Journalists find themselves constrained to report fearlessly as certain actions by the state in the past have had a chilling effect on them.

Yet, democracy is alive and throbbing in the country, with intermittent convulsions.  In this environment of erosion of trust in the institutions, the Supreme Court and the people of the country are very much alert to correct any deviations.