Rahul Gandhi, Kharge among Opposition leaders detained during Bihar voter roll revision protest

Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge and party leader Rahul Gandhi were among the Opposition members detained by the Delhi Police on Monday while they were marching to the Election Commission’s office to protest against the contentious revision of voter rolls in Bihar.

Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray)’s Sanjay Raut and Trinamool Congress’ Sagarika Ghose were also among the leaders who were detained, ANI reported.

All the detained members of Parliament were released around two hours later.

New Delhi Deputy Commissioner of Police Devesh Kumar Mahla claimed that the Election Commission had issued a letter stating that 30 MPs could visit them, ANI reported.

However, over 200 MPs came marching from Parliament, Mahla added. “We stopped them for their security and to prevent any law and order situation,” he said. “Later, they were detained. Some MPs also tried jumping the barricade. They have also been detained.”

Videos from the protest showed Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav jumping over a barricade as police officers attempted to stop the march.

After the police action, Rahul Gandhi told reporters that the “truth is in front of the country”.

“This fight is not political,” he said. “This fight is to save the Constitution. This fight is for One Man, One Vote. We want a clean, pure voters list.”

The special intensive revision of the electoral rolls in Bihar was announced by the Election Commission in June. As part of the exercise, persons whose names were not on the 2003 voter list needed to submit proof of eligibility to vote.

The draft roll was published on August 1, ahead of the Bihar polls expected to take place in October or November. It showed that more than 65 lakh names had been deleted from the list.

The list will be revised by September after the Election Commission assesses objections and claims about the exclusion and inclusion of voters in the draft roll.

The Opposition parties have been arguing that the exercise risked disenfranchising voters as they may not be able to produce the necessary documents.

On Saturday, the Election Commission told the Supreme Court that it is not required under the rules to publish a list of persons excluded from Bihar’s draft electoral roll. In an affidavit, the poll panel said that the rules do not require it to explain why a person’s name is missing from the draft roll.

The submission was made in response to a petition by the non-profit organisation Association for Democratic Reforms, which had sought a court directive for the poll panel to explain the reasons for deleting 65 lakh names from the draft electoral roll.

A Scroll analysis of the data published by the Election Commission on August 1 showed that women made up 55% of voters who were excluded from Bihar’s draft voter list after the revision.

It also showed that five of the state’s 10 districts with the largest share of Muslim population had the highest number of excluded voters.

At 15.1%, Gopalganj district in western Bihar saw the highest rate of exclusion in the state. The voter list in the district’s Gopalganj Assembly constituency shrunk by 18.2% – also the highest in the state.

Also read:

• Higher exclusion of Hindus than Muslims in Bihar draft roll, shows Scroll analysis
• Highest exclusion in Bihar draft roll: Women, Muslim-dominant districts