Amit Shah to lead BJP’s foot march to ‘Save Democracy, Remove Anarchy’ today
You don’t have any Active Subscription.
Account subscription benefits alongside Premium Stories, Editorials, Opinions and more. Unlock these with Subscription
Union Home Minister Amit Shah will lead a padayatra in Hyderabad on Monday under the slogan, “Save Democracy, Remove Anarchy”, as part of the BJP’s campaign to counter the ongoing campaign by the Congress and other Opposition parties against the Election Commission of India’s (ECI) Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.
The march will be held from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m., starting at the Babu Jagjivan Ram statue opposite Nizam College and proceeding through Abids to Mozzamjahi Market.
Union Minister for Coal and Mines G. Kishan Reddy, Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Bandi Sanjay Kumar, Telangana BJP president N. Ramchander Rao, along with party MPs, MLAs, MLCs and other leaders, will be participating in the ‘Maha Padayatra’.
According to BJP leaders, the programme is intended to politically take on the Opposition parties for ‘targeting’ democratic institutions, including Parliament, the Supreme Court and the ECI, and appealed to the public to join the march in large numbers.
Meanwhile, Malkajgiri MP Eatala Rajender defended the SIR process at a press conference, arguing that the removal of names of deceased voters, those who have migrated and duplicate entries from electoral rolls was necessary to ensure the integrity of elections.
He claimed that although the Quthbullapur Assembly constituency has around eight lakh registered voters, only about 3.5 lakh votes are cast during elections. Similarly, he said the Malkajgiri Lok Sabha constituency has nearly 39 lakh registered voters, but voter turnout remains around 50%.
According to Mr. Rajender, the low turnout is partly due to people retaining voter registrations in more than one location. Many migrants continue to keep their names on electoral rolls in their native villages in states such as Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, or in other parts of Telangana, while also being registered elsewhere, he alleged.
Rejecting allegations surrounding the deletion of 13 lakh voter entries across the country, the MP said a “false narrative” was being spread that the removals targeted a particular community. Only four categories of voters were being removed: deceased persons, those who had shifted residence, individuals who had registered at a new location without cancelling their previous registration, and duplicate entries, he maintained.
He also alleged that some “foreign entities” were attempting to discredit democratic institutions and criticised the Congress and its leader Rahul Gandhi for what he termed efforts to undermine the country’s peaceful atmosphere.
Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.
We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.
