HYDERABAD: Accusing the Congress and BRS of politicising the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, Union Coal and Mines Minister G Kishan Reddy on Sunday said that every individual should have only one vote at one place. He also alleged that due to printing errors, names of some voters were recorded in multiple locations.
Addressing the media at the state BJP office here, the Union minister alleged that Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy was not trusting state government employees and provoking minorities during meetings, urging them to oppose the SIR exercise.
He asserted that the revision process was being conducted by Union and state government employees, not BJP workers.
Questioning the allegations of conspiracy being levelled by the BRS, Kishan challenged both Congress and BRS leaders to specify where exactly irregularities were taking place in the SIR process.
Referring to Kerala and Tamil Nadu, he said that the opposition was praising the SIR process there because the BJP did not win elections in those states, while criticising the exercise in West Bengal where the BJP had gained politically.
The Union minister advised Congress and BRS leaders to visit polling stations instead of mud-slinging the Election Commission. He noted that similar SIR exercises were also conducted during Congress rule.
‘Remove names of Rohingya, Bangladeshi nationals’
Kishan further urged officials to identify and remove Rohingya and Bangladeshi nationals from voter rolls if found, questioning why Rahul Gandhi was objecting to the removal of names of foreign nationals from the voter lists.
He also took a dig at BRS working president KT Rama Rao, asking whether electronic voting machines were “good” when he won twice and served as a minister. He said that the people were intelligent enough to understand the political narrative around elections and voter revision.
He alleged that the Congress government in Telangana had been deceiving farmers for the past two-and-a-half years. He criticised the implementation of farm loan waivers, claiming several farmers had become defaulters in the eyes of banks despite promises made by the state government.
The Union minister questioned why the state government was struggling with paddy procurement despite the Centre increasing the minimum support price and extending support for grain purchases.
He alleged that Revanth and his Cabinet colleagues were focusing more on countering the opposition, instead of explaining procurement delays. He asserted that every rupee spent on paddy procurement was being provided by the Centre and claimed it was extending all the support to the farmers. He further alleged that the Telangana government was spreading “falsehoods” to cover up its own failures and inefficiency.
‘Visit polling stations, don’t sling mud at Election Commission’
Referring to recent Assembly elections in Kerala and Tamil Nadu, Union Minister G Kishan Reddy said that the opposition is praising the SIR process in these state because the BJP did not win elections there. But it is criticising the exercise in West Bengal where the BJP had gained politically. The Union minister advised Congress and BRS leaders to visit polling stations instead of slinging mud at the Election Commission. He noted that similar SIR exercises were also conducted during Congress rule.