Wardha (Maharashtra), July 28 (PTI) Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Monday said the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voters’ rolls will provide accurate lists of voters and hailed the exercise conducted by the Election Commission in poll-bound Bihar.
Addressing the media in Wardha on the sidelines of the regional meeting of the BJP, Fadnavis said he had approached the High Court in 2012 with a plea to conduct an intensive revision of electoral rolls.
He downplayed the potential reunion between Uddhav Thackeray and his cousin Raj Thackeray for the upcoming polls to the Mumbai civic body.
“The people of Mumbai have decided to elect the mayor of Mahayuti. Hence, whether they (the Shiv Sena-UBT and MNS) come together or fight separately or whatever, but the mayor will be from the Mahayuti alliance,” he said.
Mahayuti comprises the BJP, Shiv Sena, headed by Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, and NCP, led by Deputy CM Ajit Pawar.
Earlier in the day, the Supreme Court refused to stay the publication of draft electoral rolls in Bihar and stated that it would once and for all decide pleas against the Election Commission’s special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.
Reacting to the SC’s ruling, Fadnavis said, “We have been demanding the SIR of electoral rolls. Over the last 20 years, many voters have shifted to new residential addresses, while some have relocated. Some names are included in old as well as new addresses, while some people had died”.
He thanked the Election Commission (for the SIR of voters’ rolls in Bihar), saying this exercise will provide a correct list of voters and ensure the smooth implementation of the voters’ rights.
Fadnavis slammed Congress leader P Chidambaram over his reported remarks that the terrorists behind the Pahalgam could have been “homegrown”.
“I am not surprised, as these people had doubted surgical strikes earlier. The problem is with their mentality which cannot be changed. Even people are questioning the integrity of such leaders,” he added.
The senior BJP leader attributed the ruckus created by the opposition in Parliament to their ulterior motive to frame a specific narrative over Operation Sindoor.
“The Opposition doesn’t want discussion on the success of the operation Sindoor and how our brave soldiers brought Pakistan to its knees. They lacked the guts to face the discussion,” he added.
He backed RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat for his remarks on Bharat nomenclature.
Bhagwat on Sunday said that ‘Bharat’ should not be translated as otherwise it would lose its identity and along with it the respect it enjoys in the world.
Bhagwat also said that while India is ‘Bharat’, it should be kept as such when we talk, write or speak about it, whether in public or personal spaces.
“There is nothing controversial about what Mohanji Bhagwat has said. Bharat is Bharat. We use Bharat and India in the Constitution. It will be more apt to call the country Bharat,” Fadnavis added. PTI CLS NSK
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