New Delhi, July 9 -- All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief Asaduddin Owaisi on Wednesday labelled the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise being carried out by the Election Commission of India (ECI) in Bihar ahead of the upcoming assembly polls as "backdoor NRC (National Register of Citizens)".

He said that the "intensive revision" of the voter list in Bihar serves to "disempower the poorest people and paves the way for their exclusion from citizenship".

"The Bihar backdoor NRC serves two clear purposes: it disempowers the poorest people of Bihar and paves the way for their exclusion from citizenship. In this country, voting is the only real power the poor have. That right cannot be snatched away just because someone...