Opposition parties trying to derail SIR to meet political objectives, says BJP leader Madhav

BJP State president P.V.N. Madhav has said the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls has been in vogue since 2002, and it has happened during the Congress-led UPA regime.

The opposition parties were raising a hue and cry over it for the sake of political mileage, and their efforts to detail the process would backfire, Mr. Madhav observed while addressing a State-level workshop on SIR organised the party here on Sunday.

Mr. Madhav said the objective of the exercise was to do the much-needed reconciliation of the voter lists in a transparent manner. He said Union Home Minister Amit Shah cleared the air of apprehensions about it on the Floor of the Lok Sabha.

The Election Commission of India (ECI) had completed it in four States, thereby setting the stage for its commencement in 22 States on April 1.

SIR would be taken up in Andhra Pradesh soon and the BJP cadres should help in making it a success, Mr. Madhav added.

Shrikant Sharma, MLA from Mathura constituency in Uttar Pradesh, gave a presentation on SIR and the meticulous manner in which it was being carried out.

Workshop convener and MLA Nallamilli Ramakrishna Reddy said there was an extensive debate on SIR in the Parliament. He stated that Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and other Opposition leaders had their doubts on SIR clarified, but they continued to create ruckus over the issue for political objectives.

The deletion of names of infiltrators in West Bengal from the voter lists was essential, to which Mr. Rahul Gandhi, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and others were raising objections as part of their political conspiracy, Mr. Ramakrishna Reddy added.

Health Minister Y. Satya Kumar, MP Daggubati Purandheswari, MLCs Somu Veerraju and Pothula Sunitha, MLA P. Vishnu Kumar Raju, and 20-Point Programme Chairman Lanka Dinakar were among those who spoke.