HYDERABAD: Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy on Sunday alleged that 13.5 crore votes had been deleted during the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls and accused the Election Commission of India (ECI) of attempting to remove another 20 crore votes. He termed it a “big conspiracy” to eliminate 15-20% of voters and help the BJP secure a majority in the Lok Sabha on its own.
Addressing Congress leaders and workers at Telangana Bhavan in Delhi, Revanth alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was using the SIR exercise to deprive Dalits, Adivasis, women and other marginalised groups of their voting rights.
He claimed that Modi had wanted to amend the Constitution and abolish reservations if the BJP had secured 400 seats in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. However, after voters denied the party that mandate, the prime minister had developed a grudge against these sections, the chief minister alleged.
Revanth also accused the Union government of using Chief Election Commissioner (CEC)Gyanesh Kumar to carry out its alleged plan to disenfranchise voters. He claimed that the BJP had come to power in Bihar, Maharashtra and West Bengal, and was seeking to retain power by removing voters from electoral rolls.
‘Modi, Shah, Gyanesh can’t weaken our resolve’
Later, Revanth and other Telangana Congress leaders attended the ‘Vote Bachao, Desh Bachao’ rally organised by the Congress and INDIA bloc at Ramlila Maidan.
The chief minister alleged that the authorities had cancelled trains arranged to ferry 15,000 people from Telangana to Delhi to prevent Congress workers from attending the rally. Despite the cancellations, thousands of party leaders and workers had reached the national capital, he said.
He claimed that the Congress workers had demonstrated that Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and CEC Gyanesh Kumar could not weaken the party’s resolve.
Telangana’s ‘Vanara Sena’ in Delhi to defeat Modi: CM
Invoking the Ramayana, Revanth said that just as Lord Rama had defeated Ravana with the support of an army of Vanaras, the Congress’s ‘Vanara Sena’ would defeat Modi. He called on party workers to take the message of INDIA bloc leaders at the rally to every village and household.
The Vanaras are monkey-like beings who fought alongside Lord Rama in his battle against Ravana, the principal antagonist in the ancient Hindu epic Ramayana.
The chief minister said the Congress would continue its fight until the BJP was defeated and asserted that the Ramlila Maidan rally would pave the way for Modi’s removal from power.
Earlier, Revanth was accorded a grand welcome by Telangana Congress leaders and workers at Telangana Bhavan. He later met AICC president Mallikarjun Kharge at his residence before joining senior Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi, besides INDIA bloc leaders Farooq Abdullah, Akhilesh Yadav, Mamata Banerjee, Tejashwi Yadav, Mehbooba Mufti and Sanjay Raut, for the rally.