KARNAL, Aug. 18 — Union Power Minister Manohar Lal Khattar defended the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, claiming the Congress was opposing the drive to safeguard what he described as its “vote bank of illegal infiltration and intruders.”
Speaking to reporters in Karnal, the former Haryana chief minister said the Election Commission of India had initiated the SIR exercise to weed out fake and deceased voters. “The Congress party is protesting against this move in Bihar because they were getting fake votes. It seems Congress has believed in getting fake votes, but now the public is aware of their tactics,” Khattar remarked.
He also asserted that Haryana’s law and order situation remained under control and added that police were working to arrest the attackers of Manisha, a woman found dead in Bhiwani district.
Congress leader and Rohtak MP Deepender Hooda rejected Khattar’s allegations, describing the revision drive as a deliberate attempt to disenfranchise ordinary voters. “The SIR in Bihar is an institutionalised theft of votes, and the same process was implemented in the Haryana and Maharashtra elections,” Hooda said.
Accusing the poll panel of bias, Hooda alleged, “The ECI and other bodies are working as partners of the ruling BJP. We are also examining the list of voters in Haryana, and evidence of vote theft will be brought before the public soon. The SIR’s objective is to take away the voting rights of the poor, but the BJP’s theft has been exposed.”
The war of words between Khattar and Hooda comes amid rising political tensions over voter list revisions in the run-up to upcoming elections in multiple states.
