ECI being used to retain power through the backdoor, alleges Revanth

Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy said Prime Minister Narendra Modi should ask the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) to step down or “vacate his chair”, failing which, he said, people would remove him from power.

Addressing the media at Rajghat after participating in the INDIA bloc’s ‘Vote Bachao, Desh Bachao’ protest, Mr. Revanth Reddy alleged that the Election Commission of India was being used to “retain power through the backdoor” and warned that people would resist any attempt to undermine their voting rights.

He alleged that the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls had resulted in the deletion of over 13 crore names and questioned how the number of electors could fall when the country’s population had crossed 140 crore. The Congress has been campaigning for the restoration of more than 13 crore voters it says were deleted during the SIR exercise.

He alleged that Dalits, tribals, Adivasis and minorities who were likely to vote against the BJP were being targeted in the deletion exercise. He also accused the Election Commission of India of failing to meet Opposition leaders and alleged that police action against those questioning the electoral process was part of a larger conspiracy.

Mr. Revanth Reddy said the ‘Vote Bachao, Desh Bachao’ campaign was not a fight for the Congress or the INDIA bloc but a movement to protect the rights of ordinary citizens.

He accused the BJP of having divided people based on caste, religion, region and language and alleged that the electoral process was now creating a distinction between people who had voting rights and those who did not. The protest at Rajghat was led by the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, and Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, with Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, K.C. Venugopal and other INDIA bloc leaders participating in it.