BJP accused the Opposition of indulging in propaganda after the Supreme Court said that voters excluded during the ongoing SIR exercise in Bihar can submit Aadhaar along with other documents, asserting that the apex court did not say Aadhaar alone can be a valid document to get voting rights.
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The BJP on Sunday (August 24, 2025) said that the Opposition was indulging in propaganda over the Supreme Court’s order, which only stated that Aadhaar can be submitted, along with other accepted documents, to claim voting rights, during the ongoing special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Bihar, and not that Aadhaar alone is a valid document for the same, as the Opposition puts it. “Attributing to the Supreme Court what it has not said is contempt of court,” said BJP national secretary and IT cell head Amit Malviya.
“Aadhaar is only a proof of identity and residence and it does not establish citizenship,” Mr. Malviya said, adding that the Aadhaar Act says so. He further said nowhere in the judgment did the Supreme Court even suggest that it should be used as a valid document for the SIR.
Election Commission justifies Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in Bihar
The Election Commission of India has justified its ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Bihar saying it adds to the purity of the election by “weeding out ineligible persons” from the electoral rolls. The affidavit filed by the poll panel in a plea challenging June 24 order directing SIR of electoral roll pan-India starting from Bihar said despite legal concerns, Aadhaar, voter card and ration card were already being considered by the commission for the limited purpose of identity during the SIR-2025 exercise.
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The Hindu
“The Opposition is spreading propaganda over the issue,” he said. The Representation of the People Act states that a person will be disqualified from registration in electoral roll if he is not a citizen of India, declared by a competent court to be of unsound mind or is disqualified under law relating to corrupt practices or offences in elections, Mr. Malviya said.
“Asking the Election Commission to include Aadhaar as a document for automatic voter enrolment would render Section 16 of the RP Act and the Aadhaar Act meaningless. In fact, this very bench, on August 12, held that Aadhaar is not a legal document to prove citizenship,” Mr. Malviya said.
“The truth is simple: SIR is intact, Aadhaar alone cannot get you enrolled; dead, fake, Bangladeshi and Rohingya names will be removed and only Indian citizens will elect the next government – not foreigners,” he said.
Mr. Malviya also claimed that 65 lakh names removed from the draft voter roll in Bihar included fake, dead, and Bangladeshi and Rohingya names.
While the Supreme Court asked the list of deleted names to be published so that the affected persons can reapply, Mr. Malviya said only 84,305 objections have been filed so far, which is barely 1.3% of the total deleted names. It is well below the standard margin of error, he said. “Clearly, the ‘vote chori’ cry is manufactured,” he said.
Published – August 24, 2025 03:22 pm IST