Lakhs of electors at risk of being disenfranchised during SIR: TPCC chief | Hyderabad News

Hyderabad: Telangana Congress president B Mahesh Kumar Goud on Monday alleged that lakhs of voter names are under the threat of being removed from the electoral rolls in the state under the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voters’ list.Mahesh Kumar Goud said the Congress would write to civil society organisations, NGOs and caste-based associations in Telangana, urging them to help safeguard the voting rights of people whose names are under threat of being excluded or have been excluded from the electoral rolls.He spoke to media persons in New Delhi after attending a key meeting convened by the AICC, chaired by AICC president Mallikarjun Kharge, Rahul Gandhi and AICC general secretary K C Venugopal. The meeting discussed the Congress’ concerns over the electoral-roll revision process and the course of action to be adopted in the coming weeks, and demanded the resignation of chief election commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar.Mahesh Kumar Goud said the meeting decided to intensify protests over the alleged irregularities in the SIR process for the next two months. He said rallies and demonstrations would be organised against CEC Gyanesh Kumar and demanded his resignation.The TPCC chief alleged that the Election Commission was functioning under pressure from Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union home minister Amit Shah. “Rahul Gandhi has stressed that every eligible citizen must retain the right to vote. The TPCC will organise protests and rallies from the village level to the state level on Oct 6 and 7.“A protest would be held in front of Lok Bhavan in Hyderabad on Oct 8,” he said.Telangana CEO C Sudharshan Reddy on Thursday said that about 54 lakh of the 92 lakh voters issued notices during the SIR process had been included in the electoral rolls. This process will continue till Nov 5. The collection of documents from the remaining nearly 40 lakh will be completed, and they will be brought into the main rolls, except those who have migrated or died, he said.Meanwhile, the Telangana Congress Seva Dal held a satyagraha at Gandhi Bhavan on Monday to safeguard democracy, demanding the immediate resignation of CEC Gyanesh Kumar.TPCC Seva Dal state president Middela Jitender alleged that the Election Commission was actually removing votes and termed the SIR exercise as “Systematic Identification and Removal” of voters’ names. “This is a premeditated attack on the democratic system. CEC Gyanesh Kumar, who is expected to act impartially, is undermining the spirit of the Constitution by siding with the BJP govt at the Centre,” he alleged.Jitender and other leaders who spoke at the satyagraha said they would intensify their agitation across the state against the anti-people policies of the BJP govt at the Centre.