​War cry: on the Opposition’s ‘Vote Adhikar Yatra’ in Bihar

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s ‘Vote Adhikar Yatra’ in Bihar is drawing crowds and is turning out to be a platform for Opposition unity. In 16 days, the campaign would cover 1,300km across 20 districts and is to conclude in Patna on September 1. On August 27, the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, M.K. Stalin, joined Mr. Gandhi, Rashtriya Janata Dal leader Tejashwi Yadav and CPI-ML leader Dipankar Bhattacharya in Muzaffarpur. Mr. Stalin has accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of turning the Election Commission of India (ECI) into a puppet. NCP leader Sharad Pawar, SP leader Akhilesh Yadav, senior leaders of the TMC and Left parties will be in Patna on the concluding day. Its merits apart, the allegation that an ECI scheme favours the BJP and disadvantages the Opposition has rattled India’s political landscape. This alleged “vote chori (vote theft”) has become the Opposition’s central rallying cry. Mr. Gandhi’s speeches consistently accuse the BJP of “manipulating institutions” and using the ECI as a puppet for its political ends. The Opposition has long been complaining about various aspects of the electoral process that have become less transparent and more partisan. Political battles should have been on the issues of governance and livelihoods, and not on the integrity of the elections at all.

The Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Bihar and the demonstrable loopholes in electoral rolls, exposed by Mr. Gandhi through an analysis of one Assembly constituency in Karnataka, have given the Opposition allegation a strong handle. The ECI, through its conduct and responses, has added credence to the allegations. It has claimed that over 98% of the voters in the existing list have submitted an enrolment form as required in the Bihar SIR. Around 65 lakh names from the previous list have been removed from the draft list published. It took an order by the Supreme Court for the ECI to accept the Aadhaar card as an acceptable document for establishing identity. Mr. Gandhi alleges that the names being removed are predominantly those of the poor, Dalits, Other Backward Classes, Extremely Backward Classes and minorities, a larger proportion of whom vote for non-BJP parties. Electoral malpractice has united the Opposition, but the charges, much of them overblown, are a sign of institutional distrust and rot. The Opposition space has been severely restricted by the brazen and arbitrary use of central law enforcement agencies, and the ECI has done little to demonstrate its impartiality. All of this has left the Opposition with an approach of discrediting the electoral process, which in itself is a sad commentary on India’s democracy.