New Delhi [India], October 6 (ANI): Hitting back at the opposition’s nationwide agitations and demands following the SIR row, Union Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Tuesday accused the opposition of dragging the country backwards.
Weighing in on the opposition’s three-kilometre protest march and their core demands, including the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, the scrapping of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR), and a return to ballot papers, Chouhan argued that the agitation reflects a fundamental disrespect for the people’s mandate.
“They are not concerned about democracy; they are bitter about defeat and insulting the mandate. Imagine 19 parties, a 3-kilometre march, and what’s the demand? To take the country back to the era of ballot papers. No machines will run, no cleaning of the voter list. Kharge ji’s three ‘non-negotiable’ demands—let me tell you what they are,” Shivraj Singh Chouhan wrote on X.
Recalling past electoral malpractices, the senior BJP leader warned against abandoning technological safeguards.
He wrote, “Resignation of Gyanesh Kumar, cancellation of SIR, and conducting elections on ballot papers. Meaning, back to that same era when, in the 80s and 90s, ballot boxes were looted in Bihar and UP, and votes were cast in the names of others. Is that the era they want to bring back?”
Defending the ongoing administrative reforms, Chouhan emphasised that systemic updates are vital to maintaining fair polls.
He said, “To prevent fake votes, continuous improvements have been made in the electoral system. EVMs have put a curb on booth looting, and photo voter IDs along with list verification have stopped fake voters. S.I.R. is also part of this chain of reforms.”
The Union Minister stressed that flawed electoral rolls remain a prerequisite for transparent elections.
“Remove dead, duplicate, and shifted names from the list. If the list itself isn’t clean, how can the election be clean? And what does the demand to cancel SIR mean—that elections should continue on a messed-up list?” Chouhan added.
Pointing to regional electoral outcomes where opposition parties have emerged victorious, Chouhan dismissed allegations of systemic bias.
“Governments were formed in Telangana, Himachal, and Jharkhand. When they win, it’s the mandate; when they lose, it’s a flaw in the machine and the list? If this isn’t a double standard, then what is? The path of reform goes forward, not backwards. Respect the mandate, don’t oppose reform.”
The remarks come amid the Opposition’s sustained campaign against alleged discrepancies in electoral rolls and its demand for greater transparency from the poll panel.
On Tuesday, Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha and Congress MP Rahul Gandhi took a jibe at Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, saying, “Gyanesh, it’s done, bro. Time to resign,” as the Opposition INDIA bloc began its protest march towards the Election Commission in the national capital.
In a post on X, Gandhi wrote, “Gyanesh, it’s done, bro. Time to resign.”The opposition INDIA bloc hit the streets of the national capital as their protest march towards the Election Commission began.
Meanwhile, Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav on Tuesday launched a blistering attack against the Election Commission of India (ECI) and the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), accusing the poll body of orchestrating large-scale voter deletion and asserting that the ruling party is “terrified” of the opposition’s push for transparency.
Speaking to reporters amid heavy police barricading during the INDIA bloc’s protest march toward the Election Commission headquarters, Yadav directly challenged Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar to explain alleged irregularities in Uttar Pradesh’s electoral rolls.
“We never fear the blazing sun or the sweat. The people of the BJP are terrified, which is why barricades have been put up everywhere,” Yadav said.
Confronting the poll panel with specific allegations of voter suppression, the SP chief remarked: “If the BJP is so impartial, let Gyanesh Kumar come here and explain whose signatures were forged in the name of Nandlal Nishad. Who fabricated 100 forms in the name of Dashrath? The CEC must come here and answer. We caught them… the Samajwadis caught this red-handed.”
“The rules clearly dictate that you cannot delete more than five votes or submit more than five Form-7 applications. Yet, over 100 forms were fraudulently filed,” Yadav added, alleging that the poll body had repeatedly turned a blind eye to electoral misconduct in previous assembly and parliamentary elections.
The protest, which saw leaders marching from Parliament’s Makar Dwar toward Nirvachan Sadan, drew wide participation from INDIA bloc allies demanding the resignation of the Chief Election Commissioner.
Leaders of several INDIA bloc parties participated in the march and raised their concerns before the Election Commission (EC). The protest is part of a broader “Save Democracy” campaign announced by the Opposition, under which its leaders have been holding demonstrations and public programmes against the EC.
The march to Nirvachan Sadan is expected to further intensify the political confrontation between the Opposition and the poll panel over electoral roll-related issues. (ANI)
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