Revanth Reddy alleges BJP conspiracy to remove votes of poor through voter list revision
Hyderabad: Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy accused the BJP of plotting to remove poor people from voter lists through the voter list revision exercise, warning that it threatened their identity and access to welfare schemes.
Addressing an extended PCC meeting at Gandhi Bhavan on Thursday, he said the right to vote remained the only identity for people without houses or property. Therefore, any attempt to delete names would severely impact the poor.
According to Revanth Reddy, losing voting rights would eventually lead to the loss of Aadhaar cards and ration cards. Consequently, affected families would lose access to government welfare schemes.
He alleged that the BJP aimed to turn crores of poor people into bonded labourers by weakening democratic safeguards. He added that the Congress had given voting rights to citizens through the Constitution, while the BJP now sought to dilute it.
Recalling the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, Revanth Reddy said BJP leaders demanded 400 seats to introduce a “new system.” However, he said Rahul Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge alerted the public about the risks. As a result, he claimed voters restricted the BJP to 240 seats.
Revanth Reddy announces public meetings against voter list revision
Revanth Reddy alleged that the Centre also weakened the employment guarantee scheme to benefit corporate interests. He said the move would force rural workers to migrate from villages in search of survival.
To counter this, he directed sarpanches across the state to hold Gram Sabhas between the 20th and 30th of the month. He asked them to pass unanimous resolutions rejecting the policy changes.
Moreover, he assigned ministers responsibility for each Lok Sabha constituency, excluding Hyderabad and Secunderabad. He said each minister must ensure adoption of the resolutions.
The Chief Minister announced public meetings from February 3 to 9 across nine erstwhile districts. He said the campaign would begin in Mahabubnagar with a target of one lakh participants at each meeting.
He added that the party would try to bring Sonia Gandhi to the Mulugu meeting. If she could not attend, he said Mallikarjun Kharge, Rahul Gandhi, or Priyanka Gandhi would participate.
Turning to municipal elections, Revanth Reddy urged party unity. He said Congress workers must ensure victory for candidates who received the party B-form. Otherwise, he warned, development funds would not reach municipalities.
He criticised BRS leaders for skipping Assembly discussions. Additionally, he said none of them had sought funds for public issues in the last two years. He urged Congress cadres to explain this to voters.
Concluding his speech, Revanth Reddy stressed that electoral success alone earned public trust. Therefore, he said leaders must campaign at the grassroots level to ensure Congress victories.
The meeting was attended by AICC Telangana in-charge Meenakshi Natarajan, Deputy Chief Minister Bhatti Vikramarka, several ministers, MLAs, PCC office-bearers, and party functionaries.
