(L to R) Congress Media and Publicity Department Chairman Pawan Khera and CPI(M) General Secretary MA Baby.
Credit: PTI
New Delhi: As the Election Commission announced the second phase of Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls in 12 states, Congress on Monday questioned the exercise, alleging that the poll body's “intentions and credibility” were under suspicion.
Congress Media and Publicity Department Chairman Pawan Khera said they had not yet received answers to the questions related to the SIR conducted in Bihar so far. He said the situation was such that the Supreme Court had to step in to rectify the SIR in Bihar.
"The intentions of the EC and the BJP, which has made the EC its puppet, regarding Bihar's SIR have already come to light before the entire country. Now they are repeating the exercise in other states," he alleged.
He also referred to the findings of the Special Investigation Team (SIT) on the 'vote theft' in the Aland Assembly constituency in Karnataka and said one will come to know about the details of this after the probe is completed.
"Amid all this, conducting the SIR by such an Election Commission whose credibility and intention are under suspicion does not seem right. Clearly, neither the people, nor the opposition or the voters are satisfied," Khera claimed.
CPI(M) General Secretary MA Baby said the "arbitrary and unilateral" declaration of SIR is "highly objectionable".
"That the ECI is hastily going forward with the revision, even as the Supreme Court is hearing petitions challenging the same in Bihar, shows their utter contempt for democratic norms. The Kerala Legislative Assembly had unanimously passed a resolution against conducting such an exercise when the state is at the threshold of elections to local bodies and state assembly," he said.
The manner in which the EC has "turned a deaf ear to all demands for transparency only validates doubts" that they are acting at the "behest of the ruling party and its nefarious plot to manipulate voter lists", he added.