India
Explained: What is a special intensive revision of electoral rolls, and why is it in court?
Rahul Gandhi, Mallikarjun Kharge and other opposition leaders filed a petition in the Supreme Court on October 12 challenging the special intensive revision of electoral rolls and seeking an audit of voter deletions, after police stopped their march.
A special intensive revision is a house-to-house verification and update of electoral rolls by the Election Commission.
Opposition leaders filed a petition in the Supreme Court on October 12 challenging the exercise.
They allege large-scale deletions of voters, which are their allegations.
They want an audit by a committee headed by a retired Supreme Court judge.
They also want the revision suspended until the court decides.
It asks for an independent committee headed by a retired Supreme Court judge to audit deletions and modifications in the electoral roll databases, according to the same reports.
It also seeks an interim suspension of the ongoing SIR until the matter is decided, and seeks action against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, according to the reports.
The reports published on Monday did not describe the Election Commission’s response to the petition.
India TV reported that the court could take up the petition on Tuesday, October 13, but the reports did not confirm that the case had been listed.
The petition was filed after the leaders marched from Connaught Place towards the Supreme Court, according to The Tribune’s live blog.
Police stopped the march at a barricade on Bhagwan Dass Marg, more than a kilometre from the court, according to PTI reports quoted in the same live blog.
Rahul Gandhi and Akhilesh Yadav climbed on a vehicle to address the crowd, according to the live blog. The march did not reach the Supreme Court.
Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Tejashwi Yadav, D Raja, Supriya Sule, Sanjay Raut and Dipankar Bhattacharya were among the leaders present, according to the Tribune live blog.
Police said more than 30,000 personnel were deployed in the capital, according to the same live blog.
The Delhi Metro shut entry and exit at six central stations, Patel Chowk, Janpath, Rajiv Chowk, Mandi House, Central Secretariat and Barakhamba Road, from 6 am to 4 pm.
Supreme Court of India (file image), Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0