Election Commission flouting Constitution: CPI(M) leader Dipankar

CPI(M) leader Dipankar levelled sharp criticism at India's Election Commission during a Jan Sunwai (public hearing) held in Patna on Wednesday, alleging that the body was making "a mockery of the Constitution" through its handling of voter registration issues. The hearing was convened to address systematic irregularities in the deletion of voter names from electoral rolls across Bihar constituencies. Dipankar's remarks centred on findings from a comprehensive voter verification survey conducted by the party in ten assembly constituencies, which documented instances of what the party characterises as wrongful deletions from the Special Inclusion Register (SIR). The survey findings form the basis of the communist party's complaint before the Election Commission. Election officials have not yet publicly responded to the allegations raised during the hearing. The issue of voter deletions has emerged as a contentious matter in Bihar, with opposition parties alleging that the process has disproportionately affected certain communities and voting demographics. The Election Commission has previously maintained that deletion procedures follow established protocols to remove duplicate or deceased voters from rolls.