Hyderabad, Oct 27: Telangana BJP President Ramchander Rao on Tuesday criticised Congress leaders, including party president Mallikarjun Kharge and Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, for demanding a halt to the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. He dismissed the demand as baseless and accused the Opposition of misleading the public with allegations of vote theft.
Rao said the SIR exercise had progressed significantly and questioned why the Congress was seeking to stop the process without providing evidence of alleged deletions of legitimate voters from electoral rolls.
“Congress leaders, including Mallikarjun Kharge, have time and again been asking for the SIR process to be stalled. In fact, the first phase of the SIR is over now. The second phase of the SIR for the remaining voters has been completed,” Rao said.
He claimed that the second phase of the exercise had been completed in states including Kerala, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka, adding that the overall revision process was nearing completion.
Questioning the Congress leadership’s demand, Rao said the party had failed to establish a factual basis for suspending the electoral roll revision.
“How can it be stopped without any proof? Kharge or Rahul Gandhi, it is their demand to stop the SIR without any basis,” he said.
The Telangana BJP chief alleged that Congress leaders had not substantiated their claims that eligible voters were being removed from electoral rolls. He challenged the party to provide specific details about where such deletions had allegedly occurred and identify evidence supporting its allegations.
“They don’t have any basis for voter deletion. They make such demands to confuse the people of the country. Their claims of vote theft are an insult to the people’s mandate,” Rao said.
He also questioned the grounds for the Congress protests, arguing that demands to halt the SIR process should be backed by verifiable evidence of irregularities. Rao maintained that allegations concerning electoral roll revision could not be accepted without supporting facts.
BJP Defends Electronic Voting Machines
Rao also defended Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs), arguing that Opposition parties had accepted election results in states where they had won using the same voting system.
“The EVMs they are raising questions about are the same ones through which they won in Himachal Pradesh and Kerala,” he said.
Reiterating the BJP’s position, Rao alleged that Opposition parties questioned the credibility of EVMs and the Election Commission of India (ECI) mainly when the BJP won elections. He argued that the same electoral mechanisms should not be criticised selectively based on election outcomes.
The BJP leader maintained that the allegations surrounding the electoral process were unfounded and called on the Congress to present evidence to support its claims instead of demanding that the SIR exercise be stopped.
The controversy over the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls has brought electoral transparency, voter registration and alleged irregularities into political focus. While Rao defended the ongoing exercise and the use of EVMs, his remarks reflected the continuing political disagreement between the BJP and Congress over the conduct and credibility of electoral processes.
Rao’s statements represent the BJP leader’s response to the Congress demand, with the claims regarding alleged voter deletions remaining central to the dispute.
