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Communist Party of India (CPI) General Secretary D Raja addresses a press conference, in New Delhi on Friday. (ANI Photo)
New DelhiJul 4, 2025 22:08 IST First published on: Jul 4, 2025 at 21:58 IST
The Communist Party of India (CPI) on Friday passed a resolution critical of the Election Commission’s (EC) Special Intensive Revision of the electoral rolls in poll-bound Bihar.
“The EC should conduct the Bihar Assembly election with the rolls prepared in 2024 for the Lok Sabha elections and only new names of those who have completed 18 years of age be added, as the proposal of EC to prepare entirely new voter lists within a short period of one or two months is impractical and (will) deprive a number of eligible voters (of their right to vote),” the resolution states.
The unanimous resolution – which echoes the concerns of the Opposition INDIA bloc – was passed at a meeting of the CPI’s National Council held in New Delhi from July 1 to 3.
“The Opposition parties had gone to the EC and urged it to withdraw the intensive voter list revision exercise, as it can deny a large number of voters their right to vote. We called upon the EC to hold the Bihar polls on the basis of the voter list of 2024 Lok Sabha polls, but add the new voters who had turned 18-plus between then and now,” party general secretary D Raja told The Indian Express.
At the National Council meeting, Raja presented the draft political resolution that will be presented before the Party Congress to be held in Chandigarh from September 21 to 25. The meeting was presided by Rama Krushna Panda, secretary of the CPI National Council.
The draft political resolution also supported the July 9 national strike called by Central Trade Unions, and supported by the Samyukta Kisan Morcha and agricultural workers’ organisations.
The CPI National Council also demanded adequate compensation for those who have lost crops and property due to the heavy rains in Himachal Pradesh, and expressed concern that the India-US trade deal would “devastate India’s farmers, destabilise the financial sector, and exploit the nation’s youth and erode the sovereignty of India”.
“Opening of the agriculture and dairy sector to US corporations will be a death warrant to Indian farmers,” a party statement said. “Already unprecedented imports of oilseed and soya products has resulted in collapsing prices of soybean and cotton, giving rise to farmers suicides.”