Congress stalling SIR to protect bogus voters, says Basavaraj Bommai

Congress leaders are trying to stall the Election Commission (EC) of India’s Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, only because they want to protect bogus voters, Basavaraj Bommai, MP and BJP leader, said in Haveri on Sunday.

“For several decades, Congress candidates have won elections by ensuring bogus voters cast their votes. There have been instances of a single person voting in two places, using the names of deceased individuals to exercise their franchise or impersonating shifted voters. But now, they are facing trouble as the ECI is trying to clean up the electoral rolls using the SIR. That is why Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar staged a drama outside the office of the Karnataka Chief Electoral Officer. All this is aimed at protecting its fake votes,” he told reporters.

“The SIR process in the State was going on smoothly. Initially, we raised objections to Congress members filling out applications in mosques, but subsequent procedures were supposed to wrap up smoothly. The draft voter list was scheduled to be released on October 8. But now, Congress members are creating confusion by staging a protest in front of the election office. This is nothing but a desperate attempt to stall the SIR,’’ Mr. Bommai said.

The former Chief Minister said that, as per law, the State government had no direct authority to file cases against objectors under the SIR. “The entire responsibility of preparing and updating the electoral rolls lies with the EC officers, but the Chief Minister has asked all BLAs to file FIRs against objectors. This is not acceptable,” he said.

Responding to a query about AICC president Mallikarjun Kharge demanding the cancellation of all elections held after the SIR, Mr. Bommai said that Congress leaders were desperate, as they had lost everywhere. “Instead of making lame excuses, they should introspect on why their party is losing,” he said.

In response to a query regarding the demand to remove Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar from his post, Mr. Bommai said that the Congress and its alliance partners could not digest the fast pace of the country’s development. “They want to instigate unrest in the country by any means possible, to which the people of the country will not pay any heed,” he said.