Ahmedabad, Dec 2 (PTI) Congress leader Pawan Khera on Tuesday said his party was raising the issues related to the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls as people’s citizenship, identity and dignity were under attack, and alleged that the exercise was being conducted without honesty.
Addressing a press conference here, he said there was no controversy when the last SIR was conducted in 2002 during the Atal Bihari Vajpayee-led government, and sought answers from Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar.
“Atal Bihari Vajpayee was in power in 2002 when the last SIR took place, but there wasn’t any controversy like this. The BJP was in power even then. So, controversy is happening today because Gyanesh Kumar is not able to answer questions,” said Khera, the chairman of Congress’ media and publicity department.
Khera claimed that the ongoing SIR is not an exercise for adding new names, but for removing names, and it is not being done with honesty.
“Now, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in West Bengal has also been claiming that there is something wrong with the SIR. So, how can it be that the SIR is wrong in Bengal and it is fine in Bihar? The questions raised by the Congress party on the SIR across the country weren’t raised to win elections,” Khera said.
Will Gyanesh Kumar decide whether the public can vote or not? he said.
“So, the issues we have been raising are being raised today by the BJP. We are waiting to see what Kumar will say. SIR is very important,” he said.
He said the right to vote given to every citizen by Dr B R Ambedkar is like one shield and one sword in democracy.
“If that shield and sword are taken away, you will face attacks, whether from the government or from others. So who will be spared? Your citizenship, your identity, your dignity – all are under attack. That’s why SIR is so important,” Khera said.
He said the BJP in West Bengal is protesting claiming that names are being deleted incorrectly, and the BLOs are being coerced.
“All the questions we raised about SIR reached the Supreme Court. The court intervened and warned the Election Commission, forcing it to rectify many things. Many answers are missing, whether in Gujarat or Bihar. And now the BJP is also asking questions in Bengal,” Khera said.
The Congress leader then attacked the BJP government in Gujarat saying it wants to divert people’s attention from key issues such as unemployment and corruption to hide its own “failures”.
“And 30 years is not a short time. So, if we’re still not getting answers to these issues after 30 years, then change is necessary, and discussion on these issues is essential for change,” Khera said.
He said be it Gujarat or Delhi, the BJP governments at both the places are only creating issues instead of solving the problems being faced by people.
“The government’s job is not to create issues. Their job is to run the government. But it is strange that whether it’s Delhi or Gandhinagar, the government is creating issues, leading to differences among people. So, we did not vote for a government that makes issues to entertain us or raise a new issue every day,” the Congress leader said. PTI PJT PD NP
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