"They should not conduct SIR in hurry": AIMIM Chief Owaisi on revision of voter list in Bihar

Nanded (Maharashtra) [India], July 16 (ANI): All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) Chief Asaduddin Owaisi on Wednesday urged the Election Commission of India (ECI) not to rush the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise in poll-bound Bihar.
"The ECI should provide us the contacts of the contact numbers of the Booth Level Officers and the members of our party will ask those BLOs about where they found people from Nepal, Bangladesh and Myanmar... 60-70 per cent of the youth from Seemanchal are working in other states... They should not conduct the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise in a hurry," the AIMIM chief told media persons.
"The Bihar President of AIMIM, Akhtarul Iman, is also one of the petitioners in the case... The Supreme Court has asked the Election Commission of India (ECI) to consider the Aadhaar card, Elector's Photo Identity Card (EPIC), and ration card as proof for voter registration in the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral rolls in Bihar," he added.
Earlier on Tuesday, AIMIM president questioned the authority of the Election Commission of India to determine the citizenship of Indian nationals, accusing them of doing "NRC through the back door" over the poll body's decision to Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral rolls ahead of the Bihar Assembly election.
Speaking to ANI, Owaisi said. "Who gave the ECI the power to determine whether someone is a citizen or not? Our party was the first to say that SIR is NRC through the back door."
Owaisi also questioned the result of the last SIR conducted in Bihar in 2003.
"We demand the number of those BLOs. We will ask our party members to meet those BLOs and ask them where the people from Nepal, Myanmar and Bangladesh are that they are talking about... The SIR was conducted in 2003. How many foreign nationals were revealed at that time?"
Owaisi continued his verbal tirade not just on the ruling alliance and ECI but also on the INDIA bloc by ruling out the possibility of joining the alliance and accusing it of suppressing the new leaders.
"One-sided love is not going to happen. The people of Bihar should understand that the accusations that were made against us were based on lies and were made because they do not want a leader of the poor and oppressed people to become their political leadership," Owaisi said while speaking to ANI.
Bihar Assembly elections are expected to be held later this year in October or November; however, the Election Commission of India (ECI) has not announced an official date.
While the NDA, consisting of the BJP, JD(U), and LJP, will once again be looking to continue their stint in Bihar, the INDIA bloc, consisting of the RJD, Congress, and left parties, will be looking to unseat Nitish Kumar.
In the current Bihar Assembly of 243 members, the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) consists of 131 with the BJP having 80 MLAs, JD(U) 45, and HAM(S) 4, with the support of 2 Independent Candidates.
The Opposition's INDIA Bloc has a strength of 111 members, with RJD leading with 77 MLAs, Congress-19, CPI(ML)-11, CPI(M)-2 and CPI-2. (ANI)