On the day The Sunday Express reported that the Election Commission had directed Chief Electoral Officers (CEOs) of all states to begin preparations for a Bihar-like Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls, Opposition parties criticised the EC move and questioned the “hurry” for a nationwide SIR without consulting political parties.The parties, from the Congress to TMC to Left, said Sunday that the EC should have waited for the matter to conclude in the Supreme Court before giving directions for a Bihar-like SIR.AdvertisementLast Thursday, the Supreme Court, while hearing a clutch of petitions voicing concerns over the SIR in poll-bound Bihar, declined to restrain the EC from proceeding with the SIR but suggested that the poll panel also consider Aadhaar, voter ID and ration cards for the purpose of updating the rolls. It said the EC could file a counter-affidavit by July 21 and the matter be listed for another hearing on July 28.The Sunday Express reported that on July 5, a day after a petition was filed in the Supreme Court challenging the SIR in Bihar, the EC wrote to Chief Electoral Officers of all other states, directing them to begin preparations for a similar exercise – this time with January 1, 2026, as the qualifying date.The qualifying date mentioned in the letter indicates that while the nationwide exercise may start soon, a final timeline for the rest of the country is yet to be decided – though the aim is to include everyone who turns 18 years of age by January 1, 2026.AdvertisementLeaders from Opposition parties said Sunday that the EC should have waited for the outcome of the matter in the apex court before rolling out a similar exercise across the country.Among other concerns raised by Opposition members was the “hurry” and lack of consultation with political parties before undertaking the exercise.Speaking to The Indian Express, Congress Rajya Sabha member Abhishek Manu Singhvi, who is appearing for the petitioners in the Supreme Court in the Bihar SIR case, said: “A statement of the ECI is effectually meaningless because everything will depend on the outcome of the pending case in the Supreme Court. Not only on (July) 28, but on a few dates thereafter. Depending on that outcome alone, everything else will proceed or not proceed. Merely giving jingoistic statements is meaningless. Let us wait for the entire Supreme Court proceedings to work itself out.”Congress MP and Whip in Lok Sabha Manickam Tagore said the latest directives from the ECI “shows it is not ready to respect the Supreme Court’s views as well… it shows how the ECI has been completely compromised”.RJD Rajya Sabha member Manoj Kumar Jha said: “Our concern is the timeline in Bihar and refusal of the ECI to consult political parties before embarking on such an exercise. As the ground reports suggest, including those in The Indian Express and other media platforms, the ECI is brazenly going for only headline management and has failed to address concerns of the enumerators and those going undergoing enumeration.”Samajwadi Party Rajya Sabha member Javed Ali Khan took a swipe at both the ECI and the BJP over the electoral roll revision. “It is being done in an arbitrary way. It can do this exercise across the country, but it should wait for the Supreme Court order in this matter,” Ali said.TMC Rajya Sabha member Sagarika Ghose said the ECI should answer “if it is preparing a citizen’s register” in the name of electoral roll revision.“Our party has maintained that the main target of the SIR exercise is Bengal… This is an NRC from the backdoor. The ECI should answer if it is preparing a citizen’s register which is not its job. The fact is that millions of Indians won’t have documents the EC is seeking for this exercise. It gives the EC a lot of discretionary power to decide what valid documents are and strike voters off the roll. This is a malafide exercise targeting the poorest and most vulnerable. The ECI is going way out of its remit,” Ghose said.most readCPI(M)’s John Brittas said the Opposition is not against a voter’s list revision to remove fake voters. “This shouldn’t be a ploy to conduct an NRC through the backdoor and also to tweak and tamper with the electorate. Further, the EC has to take note of the Supreme Court’s observations that it is not the job of the EC to decide on citizenship. They should also take political parties into confidence for such an exercise.”“All those available IDs, including Aadhaar card and voter ID cards, should be made applicable for such a process. And enough time should be given to voters for such an exercise,” Brittas said.CPI general secretary D Raja said the EC should explain the “hurry” for revision of rolls across India. “The Supreme Court is hearing the matter, and the ECI is yet to respond. Why this hurry? Because Kerala, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal have elections next year. The ECI should explain why there is a hurry,” Raja said.