Prayagraj: 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 on Tuesday afternoon, 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. The Election Commission is the BJP, and the Election Commission is the BJP. 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.
