SIR is 'NRC in disguise': Akhilesh Yadav

Hyderabad: Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav has launched a scathing attack on the SIR of electoral rolls in Uttar Pradesh, alleging that it was "NRC in disguise" and part of a larger conspiracy to remove voters opposed to the BJP.

Yadav, who is in Hyderabad to attend the Vision India - AI Summit on Saturday, also held meetings with Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy and BRS leaders, including its working president K T Rama Rao.

Addressing reporters, Yadav said the Election Commission should focus on increasing voter participation instead of allowing large-scale deletions.

"More than three crore votes are at risk of being cut in Uttar Pradesh," he claimed.

"If such large-scale vote removal happens, and if the BJP and the Election Commission are conspiring to delete votes where the BJP has lost, it amounts to a conspiracy in democracy. This is not the intended purpose of the SIR.

"This is not SIR. This is NRC (National Register of Citizens) in the guise of SIR. They could not directly implement the NRC. Now they have brought NRC. If the NRC is ever implemented, what documents have to be given? The same papers have to be presented," he said.

On his Hyderabad visit, the Samajwadi party leader said, "... Every day, through newspapers and media, we see that the influence of AI is growing at every level, across all sectors, be it agriculture, healthcare, or any other. That is why I am organising Vision India in Hyderabad. The aim of Vision India is that the country should run as per a vision. How should Neo-India move forward, and in which direction?"

The former Uttar Pradesh CM added that politics should be about vision and not division.

On the Parliament Winter Session, Yadav said the most important aspect of the session was that "some people, who have never sung Vande Mataram suddenly wanted to do so."

According to him, people are being inconvenienced with the Special Intensive Revision (SIR), just as they were with demonetisation, during Covid-19 and the rollout of GST.

Yadav called on CM Revanth Reddy and discussed the political situation with him.

Reddy briefed Yadav on the development and welfare programmes of his government, an official release said.

Yadav lauded the chief minister's decision to recognise 'Sadar', a festival celebrated by Yadav community in Hyderabad, as a state festival, it said.

The release quoted the former Uttar Pradesh CM as saying that the Yadav community would always remember Revanth Reddy for the decision.

Later, he met BRS working president K T Rama Rao and other leaders of the party.

Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Yadav said negativity in politics should end and the emphasis should be on progress.

He said he also spoke to BRS president K Chandrasekhar Rao and that he would come soon to meet him.

Rama Rao said his party draws inspiration from SP's perforamce in the Lok Sabha polls, where it won 37 seats despite being out of power in UP.

Yadav had on November 11 announced the launch of the party's new national programme, "Vision India".

He also praised the youth, calling them progressive, tolerant, inclusive and those who reject the "division" of society.