On the call of CPI (ML), the party observed a countrywide ‘Samvidhan Sankalp Matadhikar Raksha Diwas’ [Constitutional Pledge for Defence of Voting Rights Day] on 25 January, rejecting the Election Commission’s celebration of Voters’ Day and protesting against the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. Demonstrations, meetings and protests were held in Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, raising serious concerns over large scale deletion of voters’ names and the erosion of democratic rights.
In Jharkhand, a protest was organised at Albert Ekka Chowk in Ranchi under the banner of “Samvidhan Sankalp Matadhikar Raksha Diwas”. Addressing the gathering, CPIML Central Committee Member Shubhendu Sen said that through SIR, crores of voters are being systematically deprived of their right to vote, which is a direct attack on the basic principles of democracy and the Constitution. He said that celebrating Voters’ Day while simultaneously removing names from electoral rolls turns the entire exercise into a hollow formality. He termed the process an assault on the constitutional guarantee of equal voting rights.
Anant Prasad Gupta said that attempts to tamper with the Constitution and weaken democratic institutions must be resisted through broad based people’s struggles. He stressed that democracy can only be strengthened by protecting voting rights and demanded that the Election Commission immediately withdraw the SIR process. Protesters raised slogans such as “Defend democracy, defend voting rights” and pledged to intensify struggles to protect constitutional and democratic rights.
In Bihar, CPI (ML) formally boycotted the Election Commission’s Voters’ Day Event and observed “Constitutional Pledge for Defence of Voting Rights Day” across the state. At a mass meeting was organised at Buddha Smriti Park in Patna, party leaders said that through SIR, nearly 70 lakh voters’ names have already been deleted from electoral rolls in Bihar, while crores are being excluded nationwide. Celebrating Voters’ Day under these circumstances, they said, is like rubbing salt into wounds.
Leaders pointed out that when the voting rights of the poor, Dalits, minorities and migrant workers are being snatched away, celebrating Voters’ Day amounts to making a mockery of democracy. CPI (ML) strongly opposed what it called this “farce” and appealed to the people to intensify struggles for the defence of the Constitution and voting rights.
In Uttar Pradesh, CPI (ML) organised protests and programmes in several districts on Voters’ Day. The state unit said that the Election Commission’s appeal to celebrate the day is meaningless when crores of voters are being excluded from electoral rolls in the name of SIR. Under the leadership of CPI (ML), villagers in Dalmau, Raebareli held a protest questioning why the “bulldozer” of SIR is being run over people’s right to vote. A seminar was organised in Rahi, Raebareli, where participants questioned the removal of 2.89 crore voters’ names from the rolls in UP, pushing them out of the democratic process. Demonstrations and dharnas were also held in Khanpur, Saidpur and Ghazipur city, as well as in Maya block of Ambedkarnagar.
The protest noted that a similar exercise in Bihar earlier had benefited the BJP led NDA, and warned that in UP too, a plan is underway to disenfranchise the poor, with a constitutional institution acting to further the agenda of the ruling party.
Across states, CPI (ML) reiterated that defence of voting rights is central to the defence of democracy, and called for united and intensified resistance against all attempts to undermine the Constitution and the right to vote.
