Opposition will be vigilant in protecting voting rights of marginalised: Congress MP Pramod Tiwari on nationwide SIR

New Delhi [India], October 27 (ANI): Congress MP Pramod Tiwari on Monday said the Opposition would be vigilant in protecting the voting rights of marginalised communities as the Election Commission is set to conduct a nationwide Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voter lists.
"All leaders, including Rahul Gandhi, had set out to defend the Constitution. At that time of the Lok Sabha elections, the intention was to cut the votes of the Scheduled Castes, minorities, the poor, and the backward classes. The BJP wanted to take away the voting rights that Babasaheb Bhim Rao Ambedkar had provided in the Constitution," Tiwari told ANI.
"Now they are taking the Election Commission's support. They should tell how many infiltrators are in Bihar after the SIR, and if there are, then the Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah should give their resignation... But the opposition will be vigilant in protecting these votes," he told ANI.
The Election Commission has scheduled a press conference for 4:15 pm on Monday to address the details of the nationwide SIR. Earlier, on October 6, Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar had announced that the revision of voter lists would be conducted across the country.
Meanwhile, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Pratul Shah Deo on Monday reiterated support for the nationwide SIR process of voter lists, emphasising the ECI's independent status and asserting that the exercise would be conducted as announced.
"The citizens of the country have the right to vote, but how are you giving the right to vote to the citizens outside the country?... This means you don't have faith in fair elections... The Election Commission is independent, and SIR will happen," Deo told ANI.
Deo further alleged that opposition parties were opposing the SIR process because it would expose discrepancies in voter lists and remove ineligible names.
"If you are trying to win the election with outside votes and are opposing SIR because the names of Rohingya Muslims or Bangladeshi Muslims will be deleted from the voter list," he added.
Deo said that the BJP fully trusts the Election Commission's integrity and that the SIR process will ensure free and fair elections by cleaning up voter rolls. He also urged all parties to cooperate with the process instead of politicising it.
Earlier today, West Bengal's Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari also raised concerns about the accuracy of voter lists in the state, alleging the presence of "dead and fake voters" and demanding their removal before the revision exercise.
Speaking to ANI, Suvendu Adhikari said, "Voter lists must be prepared correctly. There are many dead and fake voters in West Bengal. There are double and triple entries. Bangladeshi Muslim infiltrators are there. All of them should be removed," he said. (ANI)