Former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister and National Conference patron Farooq Abdullah on Tuesday, criticised Election Commission of India’S drive for the special intensive revision of electoral roll in poll-bound Bihar. While addressing a public gathering, he questioned the election commission’s announcement regarding the Special Intensive Revision (SIR), raising concerns about how crores of people working outside Bihar would be able to participate in the process. He warned that many could effectively be disenfranchised as a result.“There are elections in Bihar, the ECI gave orders for a new voters list, which was in use for years. More than 1.5 crore people of Bihar are outside, how will they be furnishing the documents’” he said.Abdullah went on to add that Ambedkar’s constitution gave everyone a right to vote, whereas the new rules brought in by the ECI threaten to take that right away and “Hindustan would not accept it.”JKNC chief also said people would never accept it, and if they were to go ahead with such practices then the country would see mass protests.“When BR Ambedkar made the constitution, everybody had the right to vote. Today a new law has come. I have to say this with pity that this is not acceptable to people of Hindustan. There will be a widespread agitation. May they have the good sense.”The controversy surrounding the Bihar electoral roll revision continues to snowball with the opposition mounting its attack on both the election commission and the BJP.Earlier on Monday the supreme court agreed to allow for an early hearing on a batch of pleas against ECI’s drive for SRI.
