File photo: Asaduddin Owaisi
Because of vote theft, “Now the same parties were saying they lost. Because of AIMIM or vote theft,” he said, they should clarify whether they lost. Taking a dig at opposition parties, Owaisi said AIMIM was blamed whenever they lost elections.
He said voters were being deprived of their franchise on ‘nominal grounds’. Owaisi said AIMIM would contest the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections and that the party had not entered into an alliance with any political outfit so far. He said the INDIA bloc had also not invited AIMIM for discussions. “We have been ready for an alliance, but there should be due respect,” he said.
Owaisi was in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar and met with AIMIM corporators at the residence of former MP Imtiaz Jaleel. He then interacted with the media. Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar : All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen ( AIMIM ) chief and Member of Parliament from Hyderabad, Asaduddin Owaisi , on Thursday alleged that the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls was being used as a ‘backdoor’ to implement the National Register of Citizens (NRC).
The AIMIM chief said his party had opposed SIR since its implementation and also approached the courts against the exercise. He said the party had helped citizens complete the SIR process through legal means but alleged that the exercise was resulting in voters being excluded from the electoral process. Referring to a recent statement by an RSS leader on electoral rolls, Owaisi alleged that an attempt was being made to implement NRC through SIR.
He said several political parties would jointly launch a protest against SIR, with Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) and the INDIA bloc expected to be a part of it. “Every citizen of the country has the right to have his or her voice heard through the vote,” he said. He said that Parliament had passed a law under which criminal proceedings could not be initiated against a CEC, and pointed out that Chief Justice of India had been removed from the committee responsible for appointing the CEC.
Subsequently, Owaisi questioned the provisions governing the appointment and accountability of the Chief Election Commissioner.