Bengaluru, Nov 3 (SocialNews.XYZ) Union Minister of State for Science and Technology, Earth Sciences, Prime Minister's Office, Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Jitendra Singh, on Tuesday expressed confidence that people would give a befitting reply to the Congress in the coming days for its alleged “misinformation” campaign against the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.
Addressing media representatives at the BJP state headquarters, Jagannath Bhavan, Singh pointed out that the recent Legislative Council elections were conducted using ballot papers, yet the Congress had suffered defeat.
He said people had increasingly turned against the Congress.
He said the SIR exercise had become necessary in view of migration of voters, deaths and illegal infiltration from foreign countries. He also accused the Congress of making allegations against the Supreme Court and the Election Commission.
Singh said SIR had not been conducted for nearly 20 years and congratulated the Narendra Modi-led Central government and the Election Commission for initiating the exercise after such a long gap.
He maintained that SIR was essential to ensure free and fair elections by removing the names of deceased persons and illegal infiltrators from electoral rolls and addressing the problem of duplicate voter registrations.
Responding to criticism over the deletion of nearly 13 crore names from electoral rolls, Singh said around 6.03 crore names had been removed due to migration, as voters had shifted their places of residence and could not be registered at two locations.
He said nearly three crore people had died, while around one crore voters had their names registered in electoral rolls at two different places.
The removal of duplicate entries had created problems for parties such as the Congress and the Trinamool Congress, he alleged, questioning whether deleting the names of deceased persons from electoral rolls was wrong.
He said duplicate registrations had also been identified in states such as Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra, where one of the entries of voters registered at two locations had been removed. In Karnataka too, more than seven lakh voters had their names appearing in electoral rolls at two places, he pointed out.
Singh said SIR was necessary to strengthen the democratic process and asserted that the names of no eligible voters had been deleted among the nearly 13 crore entries removed.
He alleged that the Congress was worried because the revision would prevent bogus voting and the misuse of deceased voters' names to cast votes through others.
He claimed that fraudulent voting had been taking place for decades and that the Modi government had taken steps to curb the practice, causing concern among Congress leaders.
Referring to allegations that Form 6 had been modified, Singh said no evidence had been found to substantiate the claims. He also clarified that the concerned department had stated that SIR data would not be considered for granting passports.
He further said around 2.5 crore young voters had been added to the electoral rolls.
Alleging that anti-national elements had been receiving financial assistance from abroad, Singh claimed that Deepak, whom he referred to as belonging to the "Cockroach Party", had received financial assistance from the United States, while Ashutosh had received support from political leaders in Pakistan. He questioned their credibility as leaders.
Referring to the recent question paper leak in Karnataka, Singh questioned why the concerned state Minister had not resigned over the incident.
He also condemned the use of derogatory language and criticism directed at Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Singh said people, particularly the youth, had become politically aware and could distinguish between truth and falsehood.
Responding to a question, he said staging street protests and raising slogans would not remove an elected government.
He also accused the Congress of adopting double standards on the issue of SIR.
Rajya Sabha member Lehar Singh Siroya and former Minister and MLA S. Suresh Kumar were present.
Source: IANS
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