Voters in Bihar susceptible to 'abuse, extortion' with EC's 'arbitrary' proof of citizenship: Asaduddin Owaisi

AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi on Monday alleged that voters in Bihar would be susceptible to "abuse and extortion" just because they don't satisfy the Election Commission's "arbitrary" documentary proof of citizenship with regard to the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) electoral rolls.

In a post on 'X', he claimed that the EC abruptly started the "intensive revision" of electoral rolls right before a critical assembly election, shifting goalposts later.

"It (EC) has shifted goalposts: first demanding documentation & then just asking for enumeration forms. Voters will be susceptible to abuse & extortion just because they don’t satisfy the ECI’s arbitrary list of documentary proof of citizenship," the Hyderabad MP said.

The Congress and other INDIA bloc parties on Sunday said the EC should stop the SIR exercise underway in Bihar. Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi, who held a press conference in Delhi on Sunday along with leaders of other opposition parties, said the exercise being undertaken by the Election Commission has become a "citizenship test" and questioned its legality. PTI SJR GDK SJR KH