Overview
- The Congress publicly revived the demand on Sunday for the right to vote to be reclassified from a statutory entitlement under the Representation of the People Act to a fundamental constitutional right.
- Party leaders tied the push to a recent Supreme Court judgment that recognised walking on a demarcated footpath as a fundamental right and said that decision shows the court can expand protections for everyday democratic rights.
- Congress cites large-scale name deletions during Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercises in some states as evidence that stronger constitutional protection is needed to prevent arbitrary disenfranchisement.
- The party argues that elevating the franchise would allow the Supreme Court tighter oversight of the Election Commission, while critics and legal analysts say the basic-structure doctrine and statutory reforms may already offer stronger or more practical remedies.
- No legal change has occurred yet and key obstacles remain because making voting a fundamental right would require either a new Supreme Court ruling or a constitutional amendment and would raise complex administrative and enforcement questions.