The CPI-M on Thursday said the Supreme Court ruling upholding minimum education qualifications as a prerequisite for candidates contesting panchayat polls in Haryana as violative of the fundamental feature of universal suffrage guaranteed by the constitution.
Universal suffrage was not limited only to the right to vote. All those who have the right to vote also automatically have the right to contest, the Communist Party of India-Marxist said in a statement.
Such restrictions on the right to contest "are against the spirit of the constitutional right of universal suffrage and the principle of equality before law.
"By setting such preconditions for contesting panchayat and local bodies elections, a large section of the rural poor have been excluded from their basic right to be elected representatives," it said.
The CPI-M said the ruling should be reviewed by a full constitution bench of the Supreme Court.
