"Election Commission going against every convention": Congress MP Manish Tewari on SIR in Bihar

New Delhi [India], July 25 (ANI): Congress MP Manish Tewari on Friday hit out at the Election Commission of India (ECI) over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral roll in poll-bound Bihar.
MP Tewari alleged that the poll body is going against the convention and the precedent.
Manish Tewari told ANI, "The Election Commission is fundamentally going against every convention, precedent, and every tradition in this regard."
He added that the Election Commission can review the existing electoral roll instead of revising it, as the lists are prepared after verification of the concerned people.
"The electoral rolls, which are in existence, have been made after verification of the concerned people who are a part of that electoral roll. If there is any objection with regard to the existing electoral roll, you can review it. You cannot do what you are doing now," he added.
Earlier today, Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi called for the Election Commission of India (ECI) to respond to allegations made against it and provide political parties with the voter list, alleging that the poll panel is not being transparent.
"They should respond to the allegations. They should provide us with the voters' list, which we have been asking for. There should be transparency. It is a democracy. All political parties should have access to that information. Why is it not being provided?" Priyanka Gandhi told reporters at the Parliament premises.
The ongoing SIR in Bihar has become a boiling issue amid recurring protests by the Opposition during the Monsoon Session of the Parliament.
Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge joined the INDIA bloc protest against the ongoing SIR in Bihar.
The protest, which entered its fifth consecutive day, was held at Parliament's Makar Dwar.
Several senior Congress leaders, including the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, and party leader Priyanka Gandhi, also participated in the protest. The MPs marched from the Gandhi statue on the Parliament premises ahead of the start of the day's session.
The MPs were seen carrying multiple posters and a big banner which read "SIR- Attack on Democracy.
"The INDIA bloc MPs, at the Parliament premises, raised slogans against the Centre, chanting "Modi sarkar down down" and "Stop the attack on democracy." The MPs also tore down the posters in a symbolic gesture of rejecting the Bihar SIR. (ANI)