The Election Commission on Thursday launched a strong defence of its special intensive revision of electoral rolls in poll-bound Bihar amid growing discontent and protests from the opposition.“The Constitution of India is the mother of Indian democracy….So, fearing these things, should the Election Commission, getting misled by some people, pave the way for some to cast fake votes in the name of deceased voters, voters who have migrated permanently, voters who have got their votes registered at two places, fake voters or foreign voters, going against the Constitution, first in Bihar, then in the entire country?” they commission stated, as reported by ANI.The poll body stressed that the voter list prepared by the commission follows a “transparent process” and helps in laying down the “foundation stone for fair elections and a strong democracy.”“On these questions, sometime or the other, all of us and all the citizens of India will have to think deeply, going beyond political ideologies. And perhaps the most appropriate time for this essential thinking for all of you has now arrived in India,” the statement read.The statement comes amid continued protests both within and outside the parliament and the Bihar Assembly where several opposition leaders including Rahul Gandhi and Akhilesh Yadav protested outside the parliament holding placards reading “SIR: Stealing Indian Rights” and “Death of Democracy.”MPs from Congress, SP, RJD, DMK, TMC, and JMM joined the protest and condemned the EC’s exercise as “vote bandi” and an attempt to “steal elections.”Priyanka Gandhi stressed that the government was manipulating the elections by “inflating” the voter list in Maharashtra first and by “removing names” in Bihar currently.The EC revealed through an ongoing survey that 18 lakh deceased electors, 26 lakh electors who had been shifted to different constituencies, and 7 lakh electors who had been enrolled at two places, marking major discrepancies in Bihar’s electoral rolls.“The SIR exercise adds to the purity of elections by weeding out ineligible persons from the electoral roll. The entitlement to vote flows from Article 326 read with Sections 16 and 19 of the RP Act 1950 and Section 62 of the RP Act 1951 which contains certain qualifications with respect to citizenship, age, and ordinary residency. An ineligible person has no right to vote, and thus, cannot claim a violation of Articles 19 and 21 in this regard,” the commission stated in an affidavit.