Telangana chief minister A Revanth Reddy, Himachal Pradesh chief minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, Trinamool Congress MP Abhishek Banerjee and other INDIA bloc leaders at Rajghat as part of the protest against chief election commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, in New Delhi on Thursday
Hyderabad : Chief minister A Revanth Reddy on Thursday launched a sharp attack on the BJP and the Election Commission over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, alleging that nearly 13 crore citizens were being stripped of their voting rights and warning that such an exercise would amount to the largest disenfranchisement drive in the world. Invoking BR Ambedkar and the Constitution, Revanth said every Indian had been guaranteed the right to vote and questioned how 13 crore votes could suddenly disappear despite steady population growth.
We ensured India became free and every Indian got a vote,” he said. Earlier reporting noted: ‘Modi may have power, but we have the streets’: CJP’s Dipke leads Bengaluru protest against SIR Cockroach Janata Party founder Abhijit Dipke said on Thursday that Prime Minister Narendra Modi “may have the power now, but we have the streets and we will reclaim our power from here,” as thousands gathered at Bengaluru’s Freedom Park to protest against the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls and demand the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar. He alleged that the BJP was creating two categories of voters:Those who supported Prime Minister Narendra Modi and whose votes would remain intact, and minorities, Dalits, tribals, OBCs and other marginalised sections whose votes, he claimed, were being removed. He noted that voter numbers had increased in every election, including the three Lok Sabha polls that brought Modi to power. “Our party was formed to get Independence for India, not for power.
“If the votes of 13 crore or more citizens are taken away, it will be the biggest disenfranchisement exercise in the world,” he said, adding that the issue went beyond the Congress or the INDIA bloc and concerned the future of Indian democracy. The chief minister accused the BJP of dividing people based on religion, caste, region and language, while allegedly misusing central agencies to intimidate the opposition and weaken democratic institutions.
Warning that the loss of voting rights could pave the way for erosion of other constitutional protections, he said: “Either the BJP govt sacks CEC Gyanesh Kumar and reverses the SIR exercise and restores the vote of every citizen, or it will be consigned to the dustbin of Indian political history.”