Congress leader K C Venugopal condemned the Special Intensive Revision exercise, alleging that the deletion of over 27 lakh voters from the electoral rolls reduces the democratic process to a "stolen election”
The Congress General Secretary accused the ruling party of using central agencies like the CBI and ED as political weapons against the Opposition while clearing charges for those who joined the BJP
Venugopal demanded financial accountability from the BJP over allegations of misused temple donations
Congress' Venugopal Questions Alleged Deletion of Over 27 Lakh Voters After SIR
Venugopal slams BJP over alleged deletion of 27 lakh voters and weaponisation of probe agencies, demanding answers on temple trust funds
Summary
Slamming the BJP over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, Congress leader K C Venugopal questioned whether the current government could still claim to have a democratic mandate. He alleged that the exercise had led to the deletion of more than 27 lakh voters from the electoral rolls.
Addressing a press conference on Wednesday, the Congress General Secretary (Organisation) said, “How can you call this government a democratically elected government? More than 27 lakh voters have been deleted from the voters' list. This is a stolen election, not a democratic mandate.”
He claimed that the revision had deprived millions of their voting rights, thereby undermining the democratic process.
Alleging that central investigative agencies such as the CBI, ED and the Income Tax Department were being selectively deployed and “weaponised” against Opposition parties, Venugopal claimed that those who joined the BJP were no longer pursued. “We have seen that whenever corrupt people join the BJP, the charges against them disappear,” he told reporters.
“We have seen that this kind of dictatorship always ends on a very sad note. India is also waiting for that,” Venugopal added.
He said the Congress would “unite” to protect the country's institutions and the Constitution, alleging that the BJP was attempting to hijack constitutional bodies. “Wherever democracy is in danger, Congress will stand there to protect it,” he said.
Venugopal also demanded answers from the BJP over the alleged theft of donations meant for the Ram Mandir and questioned the party's silence over allegations of misuse of those funds.
“For years, the BJP-RSS politics revolved around polarisation and the Ram Mandir. But today, when allegations regarding misuse of temple donations have surfaced, why are they silent?” he asked.
He added that if the BJP claimed to speak for Hinduism, it must come clean on the allegations concerning the Ayodhya temple trust.
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