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Union Minister Pralhad Joshi on Sunday accused the Congress of attempting to create anarchy in the country over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, defending the exercise as a constitutional process aimed at ensuring accurate voter lists.
Speaking to reporters in Hubballi, Joshi alleged that the Congress's protest in Delhi on Saturday was an attempt to create unrest rather than a legitimate agitation. SIR is being conducted in a just and transparent manner in line with the Constitution and democratic system. Despite that, the Congress is agitating against it to create anarchy, he said. Joshi said the government could not remain silent if protests threatened to undermine law and order. He defended the action taken during Saturday's protest, describing it as the minimum necessary to prevent and control what he called anarchy. Joshi also questioned the Congress's objections to the SIR exercise, claiming that large numbers of voter entries had been identified as belonging to deceased persons, duplicate registrations or other ineligible voters. He claimed that around three crore entries related to deceased voters and another three crore involved duplicate or fake voters. He further alleged that the Congress was demanding the re-inclusion of 13 crore untraceable voters, including people who had died, migrated or were allegedly ineligible. The Election Commission has given an open opportunity for eligible voters to appear in person and get it corrected, Joshi said, questioning whether ineligible entries should be retained on electoral rolls. The figures and characterisation of voter entries cited by Joshi were claims made by the Union Minister. Joshi also targeted Karnataka Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar over his allegations of a conspiracy to delete voters' names in the state. He said Shivakumar had claimed that around 50 lakh voters were at risk of being deleted, while the Karnataka Chief Electoral Officer had, according to Joshi, clarified that around 90,000 names were on the ineligible list. So who is conspiring? Joshi asked. He argued that the SIR exercise was implemented on the ground by state government officials, including tahsildars, assistant commissioners and deputy commissioners, and questioned how the Centre could be blamed for the process. The Centre may have framed the SIR policy, but who is implementing it on the ground? Tahsildars, ACs, DCs are all officers under the state government. Where is the Centre's conspiracy in this? he said. Joshi maintained that citizens had a democratic right to protest but alleged that statements rejecting the authority of Indian law and the Constitution amounted to an attempt to create anarchy. The SIR exercise has become a point of political confrontation between the ruling BJP and opposition parties, with the Congress raising concerns over voter deletions and the fairness of the electoral roll revision process. The Election Commission's procedures and the handling of disputed entries remain central to the debate. (ANI)
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