New Delhi: Telangana Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy on Thursday demanded that the BJP sack Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar. He also asked it to reverse the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise and restore the vote of every citizen. Otherwise, he said, the party will be consigned to the dustbin of Indian political history.
Revanth Reddy alleged that the BJP is afraid of poor people who have turned against it. He named the subaltern groups, including Dalits, tribals, OBCs and minorities. Hence, he said, the party wants to take away their vote.
He said the removal of the votes of 13 crore or more citizens would be the single largest disenfranchisement exercise on the planet. The population of the country is growing, he noted. The figure, he added, is larger than the population of many countries.
Revanth Reddy says voter numbers have risen since 1952
The Chief Minister alleged that the country is being set up for a strange situation. The number of voters has gone up in every election in India since 1952, he said. That includes the last three General Elections, when Modi came to power. Yet the total number of voters will come down for the next polls, he alleged.
Revanth Reddy alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has always wanted to capture power through divisive tactics taken from the imperialist British playbook. According to him, the BJP has tried to divide Indians on the basis of religion, caste, region and language. He also alleged that the party has misused Central agencies as a threat to weaken the opposition and stifle institutions.
He said that with defeat imminent, the country is being divided into two major camps. One camp has the right to vote, while the BJP wants to steal the vote of the other.
Congress says fight is for the country’s future
Revanth Reddy said the people of India will not allow it. This is not a fight of the Congress party alone or even the INDIA alliance, he said. It is a fight for the country’s future.
He said the Congress was formed to get Independence for India, not for power. The party ensured that India became free and that every Indian got a vote, he said. If the government can illegally steal the vote of the people today, he warned, all their rights will be snatched away tomorrow. These include reservations and fundamental rights.
India will stand for the right of every Indian to vote, he said. No force on earth can stop it, he added.
