Hyderabad: Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy on Monday, October 12, accused the Central government and the Election Commission (EC) over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.
Speaking to the media, Revanth Reddy said the Constitution guarantees voting rights to citizens.
Past SIR
On the past SIR, he said the exercise was intended to help people secure their voting rights. He alleged that it was now being used to delete voters’ names.
The Chief Minister claimed that the Centre was using the EC to remove the names of people who oppose the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). He alleged that Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar had been assigned the task of deleting the votes of political opponents.
According to Revanth Reddy, young people, the unemployed, and the poor were among those who oppose the BJP and could be affected by the exercise.
Referring to a recent report by The Indian Express, he said the two Election Commissioners had raised concerns over the poll body’s functioning.
He alleged that Gyanesh Kumar was taking decisions unilaterally.
Questioning the Centre’s response, Revanth Reddy asked why Prime Minister Narendra Modi was not removing the CEC from his position.
Revanth Reddy questions voter numbers
The Chief Minister also questioned the difference in election results in states where the SIR exercise was conducted and those where it was not.
He claimed that the BJP lost in states where SIR was not carried out but won in Bihar and West Bengal, where the process was conducted.
Revanth Reddy further questioned the decline in voter numbers despite the growing population in the country.
