VIJAYAWADA: BJP president PVN Madhav on Sunday accused opposition parties of spreading misinformation over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls and politicising a routine process carried out by the Election Commission.
Addressing a State-level workshop on SIR held in Vijayawada, with Uttar Pradesh MLA Shrikant Sharma attending as chief guest, Madhav said voter list revision is a continuous exercise conducted every year to register new voters and remove ineligible names. He clarified that the SIR process has been in practice since 2002, and is not a new initiative of the BJP or the Centre.
The workshop was attended by several senior leaders including Union Minister Y Satya Kumar Yadav, MP Daggubati Purandeswari, BJP Legislative Council floor leader Somu Veerraju, Assembly floor leader Penmetsa Vishnu Kumar Raju, MLC Pothula Sunitha and BJP State convenor Nallamilli Ramakrishna Reddy.
Madhav said the use of modern technology in the revision process has improved transparency in identifying and removing ineligible voters. Referring to the debate during the Bihar elections, he said Union Home Minister Amit Shah had already clarified the issue in Parliament and countered the opposition’s allegations.
Shrikant Sharma explained the SIR process through a PowerPoint presentation and urged party workers to work for the protection of genuine voters. Ramakrishna Reddy said the revision exercise is a regular electoral process and called upon party cadres to participate in the 90-day programme.
Health Minister Sathya Kumar Yadav criticised the opposition for targeting the party over an Election Commission-led process and alleged that the Congress had enabled infiltrators to obtain voting rights.