Ranchi, September 8: Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) General Secretary Vinod Kumar Pandey has hit back at BJP state president Aditya Sahu over his allegations regarding the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. Pandey said the BJP has no moral right to question the voter-list revision process.
Pandey alleged that BJP’s Booth Level Agents (BLA-2) and several party workers were caught red-handed by local residents while allegedly committing irregularities in the SIR process in various districts, including Godda and Garhwa. He claimed that FIRs were also registered against some of them. He said the BJP is now questioning the SIR process out of frustration and targeting a particular community for political gains.
Pandey said the BJP should clarify whether it is questioning the constitutional process being conducted by the Election Commission or attempting to create confusion for political benefit. If the BJP has evidence of any irregularities, he said, it should submit the evidence to the Election Commission and the concerned authorities.
“Revision of Electoral Rolls Is a Constitutional Process”
The JMM general secretary said that revision of electoral rolls is a constitutional process carried out under the supervision of the Election Commission. There are prescribed rules and documentary procedures for adding or deleting names from the voter list. If any irregularity is found, complaints can be lodged before the concerned officials and the election authorities.
He said the BJP should present concrete evidence before the Election Commission instead of targeting any particular community.
“Every Error Cannot Be Linked to Infiltration”
Pandey described the language used by BJP leaders regarding the Santhal Pargana region as unfortunate. He said errors related to a person’s name, age or address in the voter list should not automatically be linked to Bangladeshi infiltration.
He said that if anyone has attempted to get their name added to the voter list using forged documents, action should be taken against them according to law. However, he added that it is wrong to put an entire community under suspicion based on a few cases.
Pandey asked the BJP to clarify what conclusions the Election Commission or competent authorities have reached in the cases it is citing. He said merely making allegations does not establish that a person is ineligible or that the voter list is incorrect.
He further alleged that the BJP is trying to give a political colour to a sensitive issue like SIR and create confusion and distrust in society. Pandey said the JMM is fully committed to transparency in the democratic process and protecting voters’ rights. He stressed that any genuine irregularity should be investigated impartially, but the loyalty of millions of voters cannot be questioned on the basis of political allegations.
