Opposition parties say the ruling is a major blow to alleged voter suppression and a victory for democratic rights.
BY PC Bureau
The opposition on Thursday welcomed the Supreme Court’s directive to the Election Commission of India (ECI) to publish the names of voters removed from Bihar’s electoral rolls after the Special Intensive Revision (SIR), calling it a crucial step toward safeguarding democratic rights.
Just hours after the top court’s interim order, Congress described the ruling as a “ray of hope” in what it termed a “long battle to save the republic.”
“The Supreme Court today protected the Constitution of India with its clear, firm, and bold decision,” Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh posted on X. “There is a long battle ahead to save our republic from the conspiracies of the Prime Minister and his drumbeaters, but today’s decision in the Bihar SIR case is the first major step.”
Congress general secretary KC Venugopal, a petitioner in the case, called the verdict a “massive victory for democracy” and a “huge message for the Vote Chors who tried to use the SIR to distort the electoral process in Bihar.”
He noted that the court had ordered the ECI to release machine-readable electoral rolls and swiftly publish details of all 65 lakh deletions — a demand raised by Rahul Gandhi in a recent press conference. Venugopal also hailed the court’s decision to allow Aadhaar as proof of identity, calling it “a major boost in a state where it is the most widely held document by the poor and marginalised.”
सुप्रीम कोर्ट ने आज अपने स्पष्ट, ठोस और साहसिक फैसले से भारत के संविधान की रक्षा की है।
हमारे गणराज्य को प्रधानमंत्री और उनके लिए ढोल पीटने वालों की साज़िशों से बचाने की एक लंबी लड़ाई है, लेकिन बिहार SIR मामले में सुप्रीम कोर्ट का आज का फैसला उम्मीद की एक किरण है। यह पहला बड़ा…— Jairam Ramesh (@Jairam_Ramesh) August 14, 2025
“This is an important first step in our fight against the draconian and disastrous SIR process,” Venugopal said. “Our campaign to expose the ECI’s malpractices and complicity in vote rigging will continue with renewed vigour.”
READ: Big Blow to EC: SC Orders It to Publish 65 lakh Deleted Bihar Voters’ Names, Reasons
Rashtriya Janata Dal leader Tejashwi Yadav said the judgment endorsed the opposition’s demands on the SIR process.
“We have fought this battle on every platform — Parliament, Assembly, the streets. Today’s interim order shows democracy has prevailed,” Yadav said at a press conference. “We never opposed SIR itself, but the opaque manner in which the ECI conducted it. Now, Aadhaar will be accepted, the names of 65 lakh deleted voters will be displayed at the booth level with reasons, and advertisements will be issued to inform people.”
Earlier in the day, a bench of Justices Surya Kant and Joymala Bagchi directed the ECI to publish booth-wise printed lists of deleted voters, with reasons for removal, at panchayat and block development offices, and on district websites. The court also instructed the poll body to give wide publicity to the deletions through newspapers, radio, Doordarshan, and social media.
The bench further directed that Aadhaar be included among the 11 acceptable identity documents for filing claims, with Justice Bagchi remarking: “Your list of 11 documents seems citizen-friendly, but Aadhaar and EPIC are readily available… your notice can say that those who have not submitted so far, they can submit their Aadhaar and EPIC also.”
READ: Rahul Gandhi: BJP Erasing Tribal Land Records to ‘Steal Rights
Opposition parties have consistently argued that the SIR exercise, as conducted in Bihar, risked disenfranchising large numbers of legitimate voters — particularly among marginalised communities — ahead of the upcoming state elections.
