TPCC, INDIA bloc announce series of protest programmes

Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) president Mahesh Kumar Goud on Saturday announced a series of protest programmes under the banner of the INDIA alliance, alleging large-scale deletion of eligible voters from electoral rolls and accusing the Election Commission of acting in a partisan manner.

Addressing a meeting of alliance leaders, Mr. Mahesh Kumar Goud said all INDIA bloc parties would jointly organise protests at the district headquarters on October 6, including rallies and demonstrations before Collectorates. He said the alliance would also lay siege to Lok Bhavan on October 8 and organise a ‘Chalo Delhi’ programme on November 1.

Strongly condemning the conduct of the Chief Election Commissioner, Mr. Goud alleged that lakhs of eligible voters were being removed from voter lists. He accused the Central government of acting against the spirit of the Constitution and alleged that the BJP was misusing central agencies and exerting influence over the Election Commission for political gains.

Speaking on the occasion, CPM State Secretary John Wesley alleged that nearly 13 crore votes had been deleted during the revision process carried out under the SIR exercise. He said restrictive provisions in Form-6 applications were preventing eligible voters from being added to electoral rolls, while complaints were being used as a basis for deleting existing votes.

He accused the BJP of attempting to manipulate the electoral process in its favour and demanded that all eligible voters removed from the rolls be re-included.

CPI leader E.T. Narasimha said the meeting was held in line with decisions taken by the INDIA alliance and urged all democratic forces in the country to respond to what he described as a serious threat to democracy. He alleged that the Chief Election Commissioner was acting at the behest of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and claimed that individuals critical of the BJP government were being targeted and removed from voter lists. Mr. Narasimha also cited instances of notices being issued over discrepancies in parental age details and called upon the public to understand what he termed the BJP government’s intentions and join the protest programmes.

Representatives from various political parties and organizations who attended the meeting included Simhadri, State president of the Samajwadi Party (SP); M. Narasaiah, Greater Hyderabad President of Telangana Jana Samithi (TJS); Ashap, State General Secretary of TJS; Jaswanth Kumar, president of BC Jana Samithi; Salim Pasha, State president of Yuvajana Jana Samithi; and P. Shobha Yadav, State president of the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD).