Union home minister Amit Shah on Wednesday said that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) supports the Election Commission's Special Intensive Revision exercise to cleanse electoral rolls, PTI reported.
The home minister also hit out at the Congress' 'Voter Adhikar Yatra' in Bihar, saying the opposition held the campaign to "save infiltrators" and alleged that the party wants to win elections with their help.
Shah made the remarks while addressing the inaugural and foundation-laying ceremony of various development projects in Delhi.
“Rahul Gandhi is taking out 'ghuspaithiya bachao' (save infiltrators) rally. It is time to recognise them. They want to win elections with the help of infiltrators,” he said, according to PTI.
"They do not trust the country's voters. The BJP supports SIR exercise to cleanse electoral rolls," he added.
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The Congress held a 14-day and 1,300-km-long 'Voter Adhikar Yatra' in Bihar against the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in the poll-bound state by the Election Commission. Bihar goes to polls later this year.
SIR has become a major political flashpoint ahead of the Bihar assembly elections scheduled for later this year.
{{/usCountry}}SIR has become a major political flashpoint ahead of the Bihar assembly elections scheduled for later this year.
{{/usCountry}}Opposition parties have staged protests in Parliament and alleged that ECI was acting at the behest of the BJP. The government has dismissed the protests and said that infiltrators cannot have the right to vote.
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As reported by HT, the Election Commission might also roll out a nationwide special intensive revision of electoral rolls before the end of the year but has not decided yet if the exercise will be conducted simultaneously or in a staggered manner.
The issue of SIR in Bihar also in the Supreme Court and officials have said that ECI is likely to wait for a conclusive court direction before moving forward with a definitive timeline.