BJP urges EC to provide SIR forms in English
The Telangana BJP on Tuesday urged the Election Commission to make Special Intensive Revision (SIR) enumeration forms available in English as well, noting that many
The Telangana BJP on Tuesday urged the Election Commission to make Special Intensive Revision (SIR) enumeration forms available in English as well, noting that many residents from other States who have settled here may not be conversant with Telugu. State BJP president N. Ramchander Rao submitted a memorandum to Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) C. Sudarshan Reddy, accompanied by senior leaders, including former Minister Marri Shashidhar Reddy, where he stated that the Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) in some areas were not accepting Forms 6 and 8, which are used for the registration of new voters, correction of voter details and change of address. Prospective voters were being told by certain Block Level Officers (BLOs) that enumeration forms for new registrations would only be available after July 30.
The BJP leader further alleged that the process of uploading updated forms had become cumbersome due to slow network connectivity. He accused some election officials of acting in favour of Majlis leaders by distributing enumeration forms in bulk, instead of carrying out the mandatory door-to-door verification exercise. “More alarmingly, MIM leaders are being allowed to upload the forms themselves,” Mr. Rao alleged. He also charged that the ruling Congress leaders in some places were attempting to influence and intimidate BLOs involved in the enumeration process. Urging citizens to actively participate in the SIR exercise, he advised them to make use of the online registration facility wherever possible. ‘Cong. rule a failure’ Meanwhile, BJP national OBC Morcha president and Rajya Sabha member K.
Laxman on Tuesday termed the two-and-a-half-year rule of the Congress government under Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy a “complete failure”, alleging that key departments under the Chief Minister’s direct control like education, home and municipal, were in disarray. At a press conference, Mr. Laxman said there had been no visible development during the Congress regime and accused Mr. Revanth Reddy of neglecting public issues and welfare measures. The Chief Minister, he alleged, was more focused on pleasing the party high command in Delhi to safeguard his political position than addressing the concerns of the people. The BJP leader also criticised the Congress, BRS and AIMIM for what he described as attempts to create confusion around the ongoing SIR of electoral rolls.
He alleged that the three parties were making “irresponsible statements” on the exercise for their political survival. Referring to AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi’s remarks on the SIR process, Mr. Laxman claimed that the demand for issuing permanent residence certificates to Bangladeshi and Rohingya migrants, who had allegedly obtained voter identities fraudulently, was unacceptable. At the same time, he urged the EC to consider extending the July 24 deadline for the SIR exercise to facilitate wider participation. Laxman also accused the Congress government of failing to fulfil several key promises, and said the party would expose Congress party’s “betrayal of promises” before the public during the upcoming municipal and corporation elections.
The BriefWire