The party also launched a scathing attack on the Election Commission and the Narendra Modi government over SIR in Bihar, calling it an ‘exercise in mass disenfranchisement’
NEW DELHI – The Communist Party of India (Marxist) on Tuesday hit out at the BJP-led governments in Maharashtra and at the Centre over what it called “communal bias” and “an attack on universal franchise,” highlighting two major concerns — the Malegaon bomb blast case verdict and the controversial Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Bihar.
The CPI(M) Polit Bureau accused the Maharashtra government of displaying double standards in handling two recent Bombay High Court judgments related to terror attacks. It pointed out that while the state swiftly moved the Supreme Court against the high court’s verdict in the 2006 Mumbai train blasts case, where the accused were mostly Muslims, it chose not to challenge the acquittal of accused Hindutva extremists in the Malegaon bomb blast case.
“This clearly exposes the communal bias of the BJP-led state government in Maharashtra,” the Polit Bureau said, demanding that the state government file an appeal in the Supreme Court against the acquittals and ensure that justice is served.
The Left party also launched a scathing attack on the Election Commission of India (ECI) and the Narendra Modi government over the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls in Bihar, calling it an “exercise in mass disenfranchisement.”
The Polit Bureau, which discussed a range of issues on Monday, noted that the SIR, announced on June 24 without prior consultation with political parties, introduced new procedures that risked deleting names of undocumented citizens, in violation of Article 326 of the Constitution.
According to the CPI(M), more than 65 lakh names were struck off the voters’ list during the revision, disproportionately affecting minorities, women and poor households. The Supreme Court has since ordered the EC to publish the names and reasons for deletion — a move welcomed by the CPI(M) as “a step towards transparency.”
The party alleged that the SIR process was part of the RSS-BJP agenda, echoing Prime Minister Modi’s Independence Day remarks about “ghuspetiyas” (infiltrators). “This is a dangerous attempt to project all Muslims as infiltrators and deprive citizens of their voting rights,” the statement said.
