Tejaswi Yadav, Rahul Gandhi should apologise to people of Bihar over opposition to SIR: BJP's Gaurav Bhatia

New Delhi, July 11 (IANS) BJP spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia launched a sharp attack on the Congress and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) on Friday, accusing them of undermining constitutional institutions and misleading the people of Bihar over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls being conducted in the Assembly poll-bound state of Bihar.

Addressing a Press conference in New Delhi, Bhatia defended the Election Commission of India’s (ECI) SIR exercise, which has come under heavy criticism from Opposition parties.

Slamming the two parties, Bhatia said, “RJD and Congress never wanted real voters to vote. They have always stood against ECI's efforts to clean up the voter rolls and ensure fair elections.”

Bhatia also referred to the Supreme Court's recent observations on the matter, stating that the apex court had refused to stay the SIR in Bihar. “I want to ask Tejaswi Yadav and Rahul Gandhi — will they now oppose the Supreme Court as well? The people of Bihar are watching,” he said.

A day before the Supreme Court’s hearing, Opposition parties held protests and hinted at calling a Bharat Bandh, alleging that the SIR is being used to target minority and backward communities under the guise of voter list verification.

“The Congress and RJD do not believe in constitutional institutions. They question the Election Commission, other constitutional bodies — this has become their regular political strategy,” Bhatia alleged.

He further demanded an apology from Opposition leaders to the people of Bihar. “After the Supreme Court proceedings, it has become clear that the SIR drive is within constitutional bounds. Tejaswi Yadav and Rahul Gandhi must now apologise to the people of Bihar and to the entire country for creating unnecessary fear and confusion,” he said.

The BJP leader maintained that the people of Bihar have largely welcomed the Supreme Court's decision and the ongoing exercise. “This opposition to a constitutional process exposes the real face of the Congress and RJD,” he noted.

The Opposition has been raising its concern over the process in which 78 million voters would have to establish they are genuine citizens in a matter of weeks.

According to the Congress, in a state like Bihar where poverty and low educational levels result in poor awareness on documentation, nearly 30 million voters would have to provide 11 documents, rather than the commonly available ration cards, Aadhaar cards or voter IDs to prove their citizenship.

--IANS

sas/rad