Democracy on Trial: Bihar’s Electoral Revision and the Crisis of Citizenship

 

Democracy on Trial: Bihar’s Electoral Revision and the Crisis of Citizenship

By: J.K. Suryavanshi (For UPSC Aspirants)
“The vote is not a favour. It is a right. The Constitution says so.”

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🧭 Context: What’s the Issue?

In Bihar, the Election Commission of India (ECI) has initiated a Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voter rolls. On paper, it is a technical correction. In reality, it risks disenfranchising over 65 lakh citizens. Voters are now required to submit fresh proof of citizenship within a month — or face deletion from the electoral roll.

And this is not just a bureaucratic exercise — it is a democratic dilemma.

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⚖️ Constitution vs Bureaucracy

The Supreme Court recently questioned the ECI:

• Why now?

• Why demand documents that many don’t possess?

• What about the poor, displaced, illiterate, and marginalised?

Yet the ECI’s reply remained coldly technical.

But UPSC aspirants must go deeper: This isn’t just about voter ID or documents. It’s about constitutional morality.

The Constitution guarantees:

• Article 326: Universal Adult Franchise

• Article 14: Equality before law

• Article 21: Right to life with dignity

By shifting the burden of proof onto citizens, the ECI has inverted the spirit of these Articles.

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📜 A Historical Contrast

Let’s rewind to 1951.

Sukumar Sen, India’s first Chief Election Commissioner, was given an impossible task: conduct elections for a population of 173 million, many illiterate, many poor. He simplified processes, introduced symbols, and made voting accessible — because inclusion was the goal.

Today, under the 26th CEC Gyanesh Kumar, that inclusive spirit seems under threat. Documents like birth certificates and passports, held by only a minority, are demanded. Common alternatives like Aadhaar or ration cards are being rejected.

This raises a crucial question for UPSC aspirants:

📌 Has India's democracy moved from "inclusive by design" to "exclusive by default"?

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🧠 Ethical Governance: An Analysis

Governance must be:

• Accessible

• Empathetic

• Transparent

• Accountable

Instead, this SIR process seems obstructive, opaque, and apathetic to ground realities in a state like Bihar — flood-prone, under-resourced, and struggling with digital access.

In ethics, this is a classic case of Rule vs Spirit:

• Rule: Ensure clean electoral rolls.

• Spirit: Ensure every citizen can exercise their right to vote.

Which do you uphold?

The civil servant of the future, dear aspirant, must have the courage to side with the Constitution over convenience.

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⚠️ Lessons from the Past

• Assam NRC: Led to thousands labelled as “D-voters” and forced to plead before foreigners’ tribunals.

• Jim Crow Laws (U.S.): Literacy tests and taxes excluded African Americans — legal on the surface, but designed to disenfranchise.

Both cases remind us:

📌 Democracy dies not only by coups, but also by bureaucratic indifference.

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🧪 Prelims Linkages

• Representation of the People Act, 1950

• Article 326

• National Voters' Service Portal

• Constitutional vs Legal Citizenship

• Judgments:

  • Lal Babu Hussein vs ERO (1995)

  • Md. Rahim Ali vs State of Assam (2024)

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📚 Mains Angle: GS Paper 2 & 4

GS-2 (Polity & Governance):

• Critically analyse the implications of SIR on participatory democracy in India.

• Discuss the role of Election Commission in balancing accuracy with inclusivity.

GS-4 (Ethics in Governance):

• What ethical considerations should guide bureaucratic procedures in a democracy?

• How should empathy and accountability influence voter verification?

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📢 The Way Forward: What Should Be Done?

✅ Accept Aadhaar, ration cards, or school certificates as valid proof.

✅ Extend deadlines reasonably, especially during monsoon season.

✅ Use door-to-door surveys with local awareness campaigns.

✅ Empower Booth Level Officers (BLOs) to verify with empathy.

✅ Reinforce the constitutional promise: Voting is a right, not a reward.

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📝 Concluding Note for Aspirants

Democracy is more than a system — it is a shared belief in equality, voice, and justice.

As future administrators, your responsibility isn’t just to follow orders.

It is to protect the weakest, interpret the Constitution faithfully, and resist quiet emergencies disguised as rules.

“The right to vote is not about paperwork. It is about power — who holds it, who is denied it, and who decides.”

🧭 Be the officer who understands this difference.

🧠 Be the change the Constitution envisioned.

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🟡 #SuryavanshiIAS

📌 Stay aware. Stay sharp. Serve justly.