Interim order a beacon of hope, say Oppn parties

New Delhi: Opposition parties that have been agitating against SIR of Bihar's electoral roll on Thursday hailed as a "beacon of hope" SC's interim order asking ECI to make public the names of all the 65 lakh voters deleted from the electoral roll during the drive.

RJD, the leader of Bihar's Opposition alliance, termed the interim order as a victory of the Constitution. RJD MP Manoj Kumar Jha, who is also a petitioner in the court against SIR, said: "ECI had ignored two earlier directions from the SC, including on Aadhaar card. Now the SC has given a specific order on this. They will now also have to make available all deleted data everywhere, including on the website, panchayat bhavans, etc. This will help those whose names have been deleted from the list to know the reasons for that. This is again a win for the Constitution as a cloud that was hovering over the right to vote is dispersing".

Another petitioner, AICC general secretary (organisation) KC Venugopal, termed the SC order as "a massive victory for democracy and a huge message for the vote chors".


"We see this as an important first step in our fight against the draconian and disastrous SIR process. Our fight to expose the ECI's malpractices and complicity in vote rigging will continue with renewed vigour," he said.

Congress spokesman Jairam Ramesh said SC upheld the Con- stitution in a categorical, convincing and courageous manner.