ECI being used to retain power through the backdoor, alleges Revanth
Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy has accused the Election Commission of India of facilitating the deletion of millions of voters to help the BJP retain power. The Congress-led INDIA bloc held a protest at Rajghat to demand the restoration of these voting rights.
Why it matters
Allegations of electoral manipulation by high-ranking officials strike at the core of democratic integrity and public trust in national institutions.
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.
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