PIONEER EDGE NEWS SERVICE/Dehradun
The Bharatiya Janata Party has stated that those wanting to mar the peaceful environment in the State are the ones who are against the Special Intensive Revision (SIR). Stating this, the BJP State president and Rajya Sabha member Mahendra Bhatt said that the SIR process will prove to be the death knell for the intention of changing the demography in Uttarakhand. He questioned why the opposition feels that all the ineligible voters whose names were or will be removed from the electoral roll will be their supporters. This points at a fault in the minds of the Congress and the opposition.
He said, “The Election Commission rejecting the objections raised regarding SIR by the opposition is part of a constitutional process. The SIR was conducted eight times after independence till 2004. At that time, the political parties did not raise such objections. It is unfortunate that confusion is being spread on this constitutional process due to appeasement politics. The Election Commission has clarified that only the names of those voters who have died, relocated to other States or fail to fulfill the eligibility criteria, will be removed from the list. Such voters too are given a proper opportunity to present their stand in this process,” the BJP State president said.
The opposition’s claim that the names of its supporters were removed from the list during the SIR process in Bihar is laughable and a white lie, Bhatt said. Going by the logic of the Congress and other opposition parties, it appears as if the eligible or fake voters were only their supporters, he said. Bhatt further said that the BJP government in Uttarakhand will cooperate with the authorities to complete the SIR process in the State. “We believe that the voters list should be checked in detail and all voters of the State should be listed in it while the fake voters should be removed from the list. This process will prove very helpful in efforts to maintain the demographic balance in the State. Those wanting to alter the character of Devbhumi and mar its peaceful atmosphere are opposing SIR,” the BJP State president added.
