- 5 months ago
The Bihar Elections are shaping up to be a crucial battleground ahead of 2025. But is the SIR (Special Intensive Revision) being used as a mere political football by Rahul Gandhi and his party to gain leverage? Watch this exclusive conversation with Senior Journalist and Political Commentator Bipin Sharma with Asianet News English.
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00:00joining me today at asianet news is bippin sharmaji he's a senior journalist and also a political
00:18commentator he has a huge experience in the bihar politics he has covered many stories from ground
00:25uh bippin ji thank you so much for speaking with asianet news thank you heena ji and uh of course
00:31it's uh going to be a very engaging session and because bihar politics has its own significance
00:38as far as uh the indian politics is concerned yes true uh so i want to start by talking about
00:45of course the burning issue of special intensive revision uh you know when this exercise started
00:52in the month of june this year uh the opposition party was saying and it continues to say that it
00:58is something which is going to lead into the disenfranchisement of a large section of society
01:04and then in turn it will be a favor for the alliance the ruling alliance of bjp and jdu
01:10but now the supreme court orders as and when they are coming it seems a bit comforting for the
01:15opposition party as well uh recently it said that the 65 lakh voters they will be able to file claim
01:21by 1st of september and then of course they can extend if there is a chance to get the deadline
01:27extended and the supreme court also said that they will be able to produce a hard card also all of
01:32these orders how do you look at it so very important question so now you see the supreme
01:38court order has to be understood in totality because uh one thing is certain that the order
01:45ensures transparency and voter friendly inclusivity and of course protection of voters right so that
01:53is of paramount significance so now it allows uh adhar card number one it allows the uh complaints to be
02:02filed and the claims to be filed so that is one aspect but then uh i would uh of course it's a very uh
02:10epic verdict and uh it is also a mixed uh verdict in the sense that it offers to both the ruling as
02:21well as the opposition parties something to cheer about so you know when you talk about uh uh the
02:27opposition party of course it's a shot in the arm for them because now they are uh hailing it as a landmark
02:33verdict saying that now the uh constitutional validity has been upheld and of course what they had been
02:41demanding for a long time that has been addressed and as far as uh the ruling dispensation the nda is
02:47concerned of course you know uh uh there are a plethora of issues that need to be understood that first of
02:54all uh you know it no way says that the adhar card is a proof of citizenship so it is just
03:03to establish one's identity and the residence proof so that is one aspect which needs to be understood
03:11in its totality second point of course is uh very pertinent that uh there are a lot of uh guidelines
03:19which have been issued by the uh supreme court first of all you know you can file the counterclaims
03:26and if there are any and then you can uh because at the end of it the objective is very clear cut
03:32that no voters name should be struck off the electoral roll so in order to ensure that we
03:40the supreme court has made it amply clear that if there are any discrepancies or if there are mass
03:47exclusions as was discovered earlier 65 lakh voters so if their names were omitted so in such a scenario
03:55supreme court would take a stern view of all this and then intervene right uh also you know during the
04:02hearing bippinji uh election commission of india lawyer he was continuously showing that table where
04:08it says that only two complaints have been filed in front of election commission of india now the
04:13political parties you know they come back and say that it's very difficult to get through to
04:17election commission of india and that is the one of the reasons why only two complaints have been
04:21filed though a lot of other political parties have raised it like congress tmc uh cpi cpiml i mean all
04:28of these political parties they are making a u.n cry about this issue but when it comes to filing a
04:33complaint only two complaints and that too by cpim i mean what's going on no but to the best of my
04:39knowledge you know i think that a lot of complaints have been filed now as of now you know in the
04:45present day scenario so now because the opposition opposition is leaving no stone unturned going all
04:51guns blazing and in order to you know ensure that of course they are able to uh you know put it across
05:01to the length and breadth of the country that the process has a lot of lacunes but then as far as eci is
05:08concerned and the ruling dispensation is concerned they have made their stance amply clear that uh
05:13there are no lacunes and of course they also want to ensure that every voter's name uh whoever
05:20is a bona fide voter whoever is genuine then their names are there on the rolls so i think uh this is
05:27quite on the expected lines because elections are around the corner not much time is left so these things
05:33are expected and a lot more is uh you know is uh can be will be witnessed you know in the days to come
05:42because uh we should not forget that the bihar elections we normally have this you know trend of
05:49labeling different uh elections as semi-finals but this promises to be a clincher a decider and decider
05:58when i say i say it with utmost uh conviction reason being because it has going to be it is going to be
06:05having a direct impact on how the nda is going to perform in the next few years whether it is going to
06:13be a smooth sailing or whether they are going to be hiccups you know because uh nitish kumar factor is
06:20an extremely vital factor and you know knowing going by his track record of uh taking utas and then
06:28you should not forget that what happened in jan 2024 when he suddenly broke away from the alliance of
06:35with our other coalition partners and then joined hands with the bjp nda so so anything can be expected
06:43you know because it's all open you know because uh ultimately whether uh jdu can amass the uh desired
06:53numbers the the seats irrespective of that they are going to be in the driving seat because whether it
07:00is rjd or bjp they would definitely uh want to who uh nitish kumar to their side and then if suppose one
07:09uh you know one possibility if bjp uh is not able to uh uh reach the majority and then along with the
07:18jedu then in such a scenario if rjd and uh jedu join hands along with congress then in such a scenario
07:24they can always you know maybe they can project nitish kumar as the pm of the india alliance or they
07:31offer him the cm birth like what they have been offering all these years and then uh then in the
07:36process uh bargain for his support and then to break away from the nda faction yeah it's a it's a it's
07:43going to be a major showdown the bihar elections and definitely as you said it's going to be a
07:49decider but you know i want to go back to the basic the fundamental issue of sir uh you know in the
07:56debate we often hear why the burden of uh you know proof to show that i am the citizen of the country and
08:04i'm a legitimate voter in any election why should the burden of proof be on the citizen or on the
08:11voter and not on the state or per se not on the election commission of india as far as i know you
08:16know the constitution of india it says that election commission of india can you know get the registration
08:22done but when it comes to prove uh it plays no part why it should be the case how fair it is again a
08:28very very relevant question hina now you see first of all when i spoke about uh the supreme court
08:36verdict being a mixed bag of joy for both the ruling dispensation as well as the opposition party
08:41as far as the ruling dispensation goes you know because it has made very clear the directive is
08:47very clear that the eci election commission of india is a constitutional authority and it is empowered
08:54to uh conduct the sir and you know as per the section 21 3 of the people's uh represented act
09:031950 so in such a scenario uh you know it is quite evident it is quite clear that now uh this process
09:13has to be conducted but then as you rightly said that why it should be the uh the burden should go on the
09:20common man the voter it should be actually incumbent on the part of the state to take this responsibility
09:27and to shoulder it and to leave no stone unturned in ensuring that every voter who's a bona fide voter
09:34his or her name is included and so that you know even if one voter's name is excluded so that does not send a
09:42right message so i think uh definitely the thought needs to go in this direction a lot more needs to
09:49be done and of course another very pertinent question that needs to be addressed is whether the eci
09:58actually carried out this process conducted this process too late in the day because considering the
10:04population of bihar we should not forget close to 14 crores so it's not a small number by any standard so
10:12keeping this in consideration this exercise should have been conducted much earlier so i think that is
10:20the moot issue you know november is the election and the exercise starts in the month of june so close to
10:27the elections uh are we going to see an sir before the bengal elections as well it is also a very burning
10:35question right now i knew this was coming my way so you see again this has enormous significance because
10:43of course after bihar as i said bihar is going to be a clincher and then we should not forget that what
10:49happened in west bengal because the top brass the uh all the star campaigners of bjp were there in west
10:58bengal last elections and uh they were making all the tall claims that they would uh cross 200 mark
11:06where and at the end of the day they could not even make a century cross 100 and so but then the
11:14scenario is much different now because uh whatever has happened in bengal especially the crimes against
11:21women uh last two years so that uh augurs well for bjp but of course you know because the people of
11:32west bengal are uh you know awaiting was a wind of change and they want uh a new government but then
11:41whether sir exercise will clinch the battle whether these people the the bjp nda will repeat the similar
11:50strategy there in west bengal that needs to be seen because we should not forget that west bengal and
11:56bihar are two different poles all together so different situation different uh state of affairs and
12:04of course different mindset right that remains to be seen in march next year uh but you know i want to
12:12go into the technicalities of how election commission of india is functioning i mean when it talks about
12:18that among the deleted voters the 65 lakh deleted voters they can you know come back and fill the form
12:26six now my question to you is why should these voters be filling these forms i mean these forms are
12:32supposed to be filled for those voters who are first time voters so for example for any xyz reasons
12:39my name is being deleted from the draft electoral roll then why should the obligation be it on me
12:45why can't i simply produce the identification you know documents and be done with it absolutely no
12:50second thoughts about that i mean for the first time voter it is understandable that uh you know since
12:56form 6 is an official application used by the uh the vote the individuals above 18 but then what about
13:04those voters who are already enrolled and who are already eligible and then for some extraneous reasons
13:12or some very uh inexplicable reasons their names are not there on the rolls such a scenario of course it
13:18should be the responsibility of the authorities to uh you know conduct and to fulfill all these
13:25obligations not the other way around right uh truly said also uh you know bippinji there is one more
13:32thing about how blas are functioning of these political parties on ground i mean some of the belies
13:37actually you know getting in touch with the voters taking their identification cards in bulk and then
13:43going to the election commission of india and submitting these documents on behalf of these
13:47voters then you know india is conducting elections since 1952 have we still not come to a place where
13:56we have a proper operational you know functioning of the election commission of india why no acknowledgement
14:02slips are being given to them and why supreme court now has to you know come back and say that okay
14:07so the acknowledgement uh slips must be given to these blas who are coming on behalf of the voters i mean
14:13is it is not the first time that the bihar uh the state of bihar is seeing sir it happened in 2003 as
14:19well is there no set you know sops per se you know absolutely again you know very very uh german issue
14:26and uh this uh needs to be addressed and because it's quite sensitive you know because if it it goes
14:33without saying that there have to be uh two slips you know one for the voter and one the acknowledgement
14:40receipt so now while the blas are issuing only one of course the the rational which they are offering
14:49is that you know because uh logistic issues uh the time constraints and then uh you know considering
14:56the bulk numbers in which they are getting all these uh claims so i think that again but then it does not
15:04augur well for the state of bihar as well as for the common man it sends a very wrong signal i think so
15:12uh you know because it is the prerogative it is the prerogative of these authorities to address this
15:17issue it is also the right of the voter every citizen to get that acknowledgement receipt in order to
15:24actually feel secured that yes now their name is there and then there can be no other uh discrepancies at
15:33a later stage i think awareness on this part is missing when the voters are concerned on ground
15:39uh you know a lot of time gets wasted in supreme court during hearing hearing when the supreme
15:44court says that you need to make the list of these 65 flag deleted voters searchable and all of these you
15:50know very minute issues i think there has to be some sort of uh you know guidelines as to how the sir
15:57needs to be conducted in india why all of these issues like you know submit the deleted voters
16:03list and then make it searchable for the political parties make it more accessible why can't we actually
16:08you know frame some sort of a guideline to act so that the next time whenever sir happens on the
16:15president of this sir if i'm supposing then i think it should be a smooth sailor absolutely you know
16:22because we are living in the 21st century and this is the era of artificial intelligence you have all
16:27the uh you know modern day ai tools the technology the innovation so and then expecting all these lacunes
16:37these lapses i think that again does not send a very right message so you know had it been the case
16:46say two decades ago then of course we could have understood there are teething issues teething problems
16:52so but then in the present scenario of course we don't expect uh the authorities to you know
16:59have such of such kind of lapses so a thought needs to go in this direction so that then you know people
17:05are satisfied and there are no allegations of vote theft by the opposition party they have their right
17:12in a democracy in a robust democracy the opposition has all the right to uh raise questions to raise
17:19voices of dissent in a peaceful way but then you know but this also is unprecedented if there are
17:26allegations because earlier elections you know it used to happen post declaration of uh the results or
17:34once the election process was conducted but here the scenario is uh quite different you know it is
17:39happening before the uh election process so i think uh now it is a very you know it all boils down to a
17:48very very uh i would say interesting state because now the people are watching this election with uh you
17:58know a lot of uh a lot of eagerness plus because then as i said initially this is going to be a decider it is
18:06going to play a very critical role you know in the indian politics the next three years are going to be
18:12decided with this particular election just final question uh bippinji do you think that congress has
18:18become super active in the state of bihar just because of the election and uh it's is it actually
18:24caring for the voters or is it just kind of trying to hinge on this sir agenda for political gain you know
18:31i must uh lord you for this wonderful question because uh you know uh last year when uh bjp was
18:40stopped at 240 and then uh congress uh congress performance was uh far better compared to what how
18:49they fared in 2014 and 19. so then the expectations uh were soaring that yes congress is uh back and
18:58congress means business rahul gandhi especially the way he was going hammers and tongs in the parliament
19:04and uh so but then then again you know now because we want a very strong uh vibrant opposition who can
19:12raise questions who can corner the government and then uh now as far as the these elections are
19:19concerned bihar and now suddenly seeing congress rahul gandhi in an active mode it augurs well it sends a
19:25good message but then whether it will uh last beyond the elections or it will fizzle out that again
19:34is something to be seen because what happened we should not forget what happened after haryana
19:39maharash and delhi look at delhi the capital so you know uh elections after elections they are unable to
19:46open their uh account here in delhi and we should not forget the golden era of sheila dixit
19:521998 to 2013 when she was the cm and in the legis delhi legislative assembly you had all the congress
20:00mlas so but now not a single mla of congress party in the delhi legislative assembly so i think that also
20:07is uh not a very very uh bright uh sign for congress they need to really gear up and realize that
20:16they need to understand the pulse of the common man because uh you know it was a comeback for them
20:22in himmarchal karnataka telangana but then the uh you know the defeat in uh haryana maharasht and delhi
20:31especially so i think that uh will definitely uh give them a lot to wonder about and to uh re-devise
20:39their strategy if they actually want to stage a comeback because elections after all they are all
20:45about strategies true uh well thank you so much uh bippinji on that note i will take a leave but
20:53thank you so much i think your commentary was robust and throws a light on the issues that's plaguing
20:58election commission of india and the entire issue of sir thank you so much once again thank you please
21:04thank you very much
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