'Talking about boycotting polls is simply a move to galvanise party leaders, workers, and supporters for the big political fight.'
Public sentiment on the streets has largely dismissed the idea of boycotting the next assembly polls.
While acknowledging the opposition's right to protest against the SIR, there is a clear consensus against a poll boycott, as threatened by Rashtriya Janata Dal leader Tejashwi Yadav.
"This (threat) appears to be nothing more than a fresh strategy to implicate the Election Commission of India (ECI) ahead of the Supreme Court's hearing on the case on July 28," stated Rameshwar Singh, a private school teacher in Patna. "The ECI has already defended the exercise and justified the 11 listed documents required for SIR. Sooner or later, the opposition will retract its threat; it seems to be mere rhetoric."
Singh's view was echoed by many across the city.
Abdul Salam, a shoe shopkeeper, added, "Tejashwi's threat is simply a political statement. Opposition leaders are not so foolish as to boycott polls and hand over power to the ruling NDA."
Political observers in the state view Tejashwi's latest threat as part of a broader opposition strategy. This move is seen not only as an attempt to pressure the ECI but also to send a political message to their social support base, urging them to remain united against what they perceive as a nexus between the ruling NDA and the ECI in the upcoming elections.
Tejashwi, a prominent Rashtriya Janata Dal leader and the chief ministerial candidate for the opposition Grand Alliance (Mahagathbandhan), has consistently questioned the ECI's decision to conduct the SIR in Bihar ahead of the assembly polls.
Earlier last week, he reportedly stated that if the Bihar assembly polls were to be "manipulated" under the guise of SIR, the opposition might consider boycotting the elections after consulting with the public and alliance partners.
He reiterated this stance on Thursday, confirming that the opposition would seriously discuss boycotting the "incoming" assembly polls.
"We are keeping the option open to boycott elections," Tejashwi said. "If elections are to be manipulated, why should people cast their votes? Let them just extend the government." (Hamare pass chunao bahiskar ka vikalpa khula hai. Jab chunao mein beimani hi karni hai to vote kyon log denge, aise hi sarkar ko extension de diya jaye).
He further warned that the ECI would "start the real game" from August 1, but the opposition would maintain a close watch.
However, a notable silence from his own party leaders and alliance partners over the past four days suggests that the statement might be primarily for public consumption.
Satyanarayan Madan, a political activist closely following developments in Bihar, believes Tejashwi's statement aims to keep the issue of protest against SIR "boiling."
"It was merely a statement because opposition parties and their MLAs also understand that boycotting elections is an absurd thing at this moment. In the past, election boycotts by the opposition in Assam directly handed over power to the ruling party.
"In our electoral system, where the opposition has an opportunity to expose and attack the ruling party or alliance, boycotting elections is illogical and impractical."
Kamlesh Rai, a staunch RJD supporter in Patna, affirmed that the Mahagathbandhan is strong enough to challenge the ruling NDA, and boycotting polls is not a solution.
"Talking about boycotting polls is simply a move to galvanise party leaders, workers, and supporters for a big political fight. The ongoing SIR has already created suspicion among people that the ECI initiated this to benefit the ruling NDA in polls."
Another opposition supporter, Mazhar Alam, suggested Tejashwi's boycott threat is intended to bring the issue of SIR to the public and consolidate support by highlighting alleged irregularities and a lack of transparency.
"A large number of people, mainly poor Dalits, backwards, and Muslims, are fearing that their names will be removed from the voter list due to SIR."
"If the opposition decides to boycott the next Bihar assembly polls, it will be a free field for the ruling NDA, which will claim that the opposition has conceded defeat by not contesting elections. In this situation, calling for a boycott of the next Bihar assembly polls is not reasonable.”
“Election is a testing ground of the democratic process and provides voting rights to people to express their stand in favor or against political parties in power or opposition," says a Patna-based political analyst.
In its affidavit to the Supreme Court the ECI rejected Aadhaar, ration cards, and even voter ID cards as valid proof of citizenship for electoral rolls.
According to an official ECI release after the SIR concluded on Friday, approximately 65 lakh voter names out of Bihar's 7.9 crore voters are likely to be deleted from the draft rolls. These individuals were reportedly found to be deceased, registered in multiple places, permanently shifted, or untraceable.
This figure represents nearly 8 percent of the total 7.89 crore registered voters in Bihar.
Tejashwi, who has been vocally opposing the ongoing SIR since early July, has repeatedly accused the ECI of being "adamant" and working "at the behest of the BJP and ruling NDA."
He earlier claimed that thousands of genuine voters' names would be deleted under the SIR as part of a conspiracy to aid the NDA in the polls.
"We have collected evidence and video clips showing how enumeration forms were filled with fake and forged signatures, and how hundreds of such forms were filled and submitted at one place by concerned BLOs. The ECI is doing all this on instructions of the NDA government at the Centre," he alleged.
Other opposition leaders have categorically stated their intention to intensify protests against SIR across the state, aiming to inform the public about how voter names have allegedly been deleted in villages and urban localities.
"We will not sit silent; we will intensify our protest because the ECI is hell-bent on removing millions of voters' names from the voter list," asserted Congress state president Rajesh Ram.
His statement was supported by CPI-ML MLA Mahboob Alam, who is the party's leader in the state assembly.
"We will go to the people to expose a conspiracy to manipulate electoral rolls to favour the NDA in the next polls," Alam declared.
The opposition vigorously protested during the short monsoon session of the Bihar assembly, which concluded on Friday.
For the fourth consecutive day on Friday, RJD, Congress, and Left party MLAs and MLCs, dressed in black, staged protests against the SIR.
The entire opposition continued their protest inside and outside the state assembly, shouting slogans, blocking the main door, and staging a dharna demanding the scrapping of the SIR.
Feature Presentation: Aslam Hunani/Rediff
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