Prayagraj,

26 Nov (HS): City Congress Committee President Fuzail Hashmi has demanded an

extension of the deadline for the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) currently

underway in 12 states and union territories. Speaking to reporters at the City

Congress Committee office, Hashmi alleged that the Election Commission has

hastily initiated the SIR process. Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar is

running the current process in a regimented and forced manner. BLOs have been

overwhelmed with so much work in a short time that they are unable to go

door-to-door and are busy catering to the Commission's demands, putting both

citizens and officials at risk, which is worrying and dangerous. BLOs are

committing suicide due to pressure; 29 BLOs have died in the last 20 days.

Furthermore, neither BLOs nor BLAs have received training. Hashmi said that

providing clean voter lists is the Commission's responsibility, but instead, it

is imposing this responsibility on political parties. The SIR process is being

carried out in a hurry and in a chaotic manner, with the aim of removing the

names of genuine voters from the electoral rolls.

He

said that the BJP is using the SIR as a weapon to manipulate voter lists. The

BJP has completely turned the Election Commission into a tool for its own

benefit. This was evident in the recently concluded Bihar elections, where

elections were stolen. Now, the BJP in Uttar Pradesh is adopting the Bihar

model. He alleged that BJP Union Ministers and MPs voted in both Delhi and

Bihar, but the Election Commission took no action. The Commission is busy

appeasing a particular political party. The Election Commission is conspiring

to weaken democracy and the opposition through the SIR, a move Congress will

take to the streets to protest. The party has organized a massive rally at

Ramlila Maidan in Delhi on December 14th. Former UP Congress spokesperson

Kishore Varshney and party coordinator Harikesh Tripathi along with Haji Parvej

Siddiqui, Gulrez were present at the press conference.

Hindusthan Samachar / Abhishek Awasthi