"Should intruders be allowed to vote?" BJP's Naresh Bansal defends SIR exercise in Bihar

New Delhi [India], August 2 (ANI): Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Rajya Sabha MP Naresh Bansal on Saturday defended the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise by Election Commission (EC) in Bihar ahead of the upcoming assembly elections, asking whether "intruders" should be allowed to vote and influence the government.
"This is the process before every election. There hasn't been a special review for many years, which is why SIR is happening... Should intruders in the country, who do not have rights to our resources or government, be allowed to vote and influence the government? Everyone's answer will be no. Keeping these three things in mind, the Election Commission has taken action," Bansal told ANI.
"There will be a fair election. Those who have the right to vote will vote. Citizens will cast their votes," he added.
Congress leader and Leader of Opposition (LoP) Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, earlier today, asserted that the election system in India was "already dead," and alleged that the 2024 Lok Sabha elections were "rigged" and that he has proof to substantiate the claim.
Addressing the annual legal conclave titled 'Constitutional Challenges - Perspectives & Pathways', Gandhi said that he suspected over 80 Lok Sabha seats were rigged in the 2024 general elections.
"The truth is that the election system in India is already dead. The Prime Minister of India holds office with a very slim majority. If 15 seats were rigged, we suspect that the number is over 70 to 80, he would not have been the Prime Minister of India. We are going to prove to you in the coming few days how a Lok Sabha election can be rigged and was rigged," Gandhi said while addressing the gathering in the national capital.
Highlighting the six-month investigation carried out by Congress, he further alleged that the Election Commission of India (ECI) doesn't exist and has disappeared. According to documentation received from the EC, Gandhi said that the Congress has ascertained that nearly 1.5 lakh voters out of 6.5 lakh who voted in the Lok Sabha elections were "fake".
After Rahul Gandhi alleged "vote theft" earlier, the Election Commission of India fact-checked his claim over "irregularities in 2024 Lok Sabha polls in Karnataka. ECI said that the statement made by the Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha is "misleading, baseless, and threatening." (ANI)