Prakash Raj flags attempts to divide country into those with voting rights and, those without votes

There were attempts to divide the country into two -- those with voting rights and those without them, actor-activist Prakash Raj said in Chennai on Tuesday. He appealed to the people of Tamil Nadu to come to the streets and protest against the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral rolls, which was undertaken by the Election Commission of India (ECI).

Addressing a press conference, Mr. Prakash Raj flagged several issues through which he contended that the SIR had removed over 13 crore people from the electoral rolls across the country. Those whose voting rights were taken away included Adivasis, daily wage labourers, Dalits, Muslims, Christians, and other minorities, among others, he contended.

“Some of them may have been left out [and kept in the electoral rolls]. As long as there are no issues [to make a difference in the electoral outcome] in the elections,” Mr. Raj said. “Once such a ‘clean up’ process is undertaken, think about who will be voters and what will be their mindset. In the eventual elections, every political party will speak appealing only to that mindset”.

He also pointed out how the BJP government brought in two legislations to amend the way in which the Chief Election Commissioner was chosen as well as to provide legal immunity during service and after the tenure.

Former High Court judge D. Hariparanthaman said it was The Indian Express journalist Ritika Chopra who brought to light that two Election Commissioners objected 14 times in 10 months on record to steps being undertaken by the ECI. Political commentator V. Ponraj referred to a report of The Hindu Businessline and further contended that the “electoral rolls have been weaponised”.

Activist Radhika Ganesh charged that the BJP was “using SIR as a tool to weaken those who have been opposed to its principles and ideology”. Journalist K. Ayyanathan emphasised on the need to scrap the use of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) and bring back paper ballots. State Coordinator of All India People’s Mission Thomas Franco also spoke.