Counter Congress campaign against SIR, Telangana BJP chief tells party cadre

BJP Telangana president N. Ramchander Rao has called upon party leaders and cadres to counter what he termed a misinformation campaign by the Congress against the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, and explain to people the importance of maintaining clean voters’ lists.

Addressing a meeting of conveners of the party’s various cells, senior leaders, State spokespersons and media panelists at the BJP’s State office, Mr. Rao alleged that the Congress was creating a false narrative over the SIR process to mislead people.

He accused Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy of targeting constitutional institutions out of fear of electoral defeats.

Referring to the Congress delegation’s recent meeting with the President, Mr. Rao said Mr. Gandhi had stated that the President had sought evidence for the allegations made by the party. However, the Congress had failed to produce supporting evidence, he alleged. He also criticised the Congress for claiming that the President had acknowledged vote theft, describing it as an attempt to spread misinformation.

Explaining the SIR process, the BJP leader said the second phase of the exercise was a lengthy process lasting four to five months, involving verification at multiple levels.

Booth-level officers (BLOs) would visit households to verify voter details and check the status of deceased persons and those who had migrated before preparing the draft electoral rolls, he said. There was also a prescribed procedure for restoring names if objections were raised after their deletion.

Alleging that the Congress had failed to substantiate its claims of mass deletions, Mr. Rao challenged the party to identify voters whose names had been removed unlawfully. He said the BJP cadre should take the issue to the grassroots and highlight how a transparent and accurate electoral roll would strengthen democracy.