ITANAGAR, Nov 3: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Arunachal Pradesh on Tuesday accused the Congress of creating confusion over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, asserting that the exercise was necessary to maintain the accuracy and credibility of the democratic process.
Addressing a press conference organized at the party headquarters here as part of the party's ‘Save Democracy, Remove Anarchy’ campaign, BJP State in-charge Devesh Kumar said SIR was a systematic verification exercise aimed at ensuring that every eligible citizen was included in the electoral rolls and that duplicate, deceased and other ineligible entries were identified in accordance with the law.
Kumar said electoral roll revision was a continuous democratic process and described SIR as a comprehensive exercise involving door-to-door verification. He claimed that the exercise had been undertaken 12 times since Independence, including 10 times under Congress-led governments.
Questioning the Congress's opposition to the exercise, he alleged that the party had adopted inconsistent positions on electoral reforms and was selectively opposing SIR for political reasons. He also questioned the difference between the positions taken by Congress leaders in Arunachal Pradesh and those at the national level, claiming that State leaders had welcomed the SIR exercise while the central leadership had raised objections.
The BJP leader further accused the Congress of repeatedly questioning constitutional institutions and attempting to create distrust in the electoral system. He said electoral reforms should be approached as a democratic responsibility rather than viewed through a political lens.
Kumar alleged that the Congress party was attempting to create political instability and an atmosphere of anarchy through its political campaign rather than accepting the people’s mandate expressed through democratic elections. He asserted that political power must be earned through public support and democratic participation, not through misinformation, confusion or attempts to undermine constitutional institutions.
Underlining the need for reliable electoral rolls, he said the process must ensure the inclusion of all eligible voters while removing erroneous and ineligible entries through established legal procedures.
The press conference was attended by BJP MLA and chief spokesperson Mutchu Mithi and party vice-president Tayeng Shankutala.