Congress will hold a protest in Delhi against the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voter list and alleged ‘”vote chori”.
Special Intensive Revision: Reiterating its allegation that the Election Commission (EC) was in colluding with the ruling BJP, and indulging in voter deletion and “vote chori” (vote theft), Congress on Monday announced that its cadres will hold a protest in Delhi, against alleged vote theft and the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.
Congress to hold anti-SIR protest in Delhi
Talking to reporters in Ranchi, All India Mahila Congress (AIMC) chief Alka Lamba said party workers, social activists and supporters of constitutional rights from across the country will gather at the Ramlila Maidan in Delhi on December 14 to stage a protest against “vote chori” and the SIR exercise currently underway in 12 states.
“The Parliament will be in session during our rally. The session began on Monday and will continue till December 19. Through this rally, we want to fix the government’s accountability towards the Constitution and democracy,” Lamba said.
‘Planned conspiracy’
The AIMC president who was in Ranchi to attend the oath-taking ceremony of Jharkhand Mahila Congress president Rama Khalko, a former deputy mayor of Ranchi, said the Congress has “clear” vision on SIR, while terming the exercise as an “attack on an attack on our democratic rights” and a “planned conspiracy to remove non-BJP voters including Dalits, tribals and minorities from the electoral rolls.”
The Congress leader also claimed Booth Level Officers (BLOs) were under enormous pressure due to the SIR and “several have died by suicide”.
“Our leaders Rahul Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge have decided to fight SIR and other burning issues both inside Parliament and on the streets,” she said, and alleged that around 65 lakh names were deleted from the electoral rolls ahead of the recently-held Bihar Assembly Election.
“RJD gets the maximum votes in Bihar but its seat share remains negligible. The EC has become an election machine of the BJP,” she alleged while also claiming that the alliance government in Jharkhand has fulfilled its promises made to women.
“Around 50 lakh women of the state are being provided monthly finance assistance of Rs 2,500. Similarly, we are also providing financial assistance to women in Karnataka and Telangana. But, BJP governments in Delhi, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhatisgarh and Assam have cheated women voters,” she alleged.
NDA sweeps Bihar polls
Last month, the ruling NDA registered a landslide victory in the Bihar Assembly Election, winning more than 200 seats in the 243-member House, with the BJP emerging as the single-largest party.
In contrast, the opposition Mahagathbandhan led by the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and the Congress, faced a rout in the state, winning just 33 of the 243 seats it had contested, with Congress securing a dismal 6 seats out of the 61 it fought.
(With PTI inputs)
