New Delhi [India], July 22 : As opposition trains its guns over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise being carried out by the Election Commission (EC) in Bihar, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Ravi Shankar Prasad on Tuesday said that only Indian citizens were allowed to vote in the elections and there was no problem in ascertaining the same.
"As per the Indian Constitution, only citizen of the nation has the right to vote. Why do they have a problem if an investigation is being done into it? The one who is an ordinarily resident in their constituency can vote in the elections. What is the problem in seeing who is a resident or not?" Shankar told reporters here.
Taking a swipe at the opposition, Shankar said that leaders who do politics in the name of Bangladeshis and intruders were nervous.
"In Araria, Purnia, and Kishanganj, Aadhaar cards have been issued to 125 per cent, which is more than the population. The Election Commission has said that most people are from outside. India is not a 'Dharmshala'...The leaders who do politics in the name of Bangladeshis and intruders are nervous," the BJP MP said.
Earlier in the day, Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra expressed strong reservations against the ongoing electoral rolls revision being undertaken by the Election Commission in Bihar ahead of the upcoming assembly elections, accusing the government of "murdering democracy".
"They are murdering democracy. We have been protesting against it, and this is wrong," Gandhi told ANI.
This comes amid protests by the INDIA bloc and its leaders in Parliament's premises against the electoral rolls revision exercise being carried out by the EC. The opposition leaders have alleged that voting rights of people are being taken away.
Priyanka Gandhi posted on X, alleging that elections were "rigged" in Maharashtra earlier by inflating the voter list, and now, attempts to remove voters' names were being made in Bihar. She labelled the SIR exercise as a "conspiracy to snatch right to vote".
"First, in Maharashtra, elections were rigged by inflating voter lists. Now, in Bihar, attempts are being made to do the same by removing voters' names. The 'vote ban' being imposed under the guise of SIR is a conspiracy to snatch the right to vote granted by the Constitution. We stand firmly against every attempt to trample the Constitution," Gandhi, who took part in the protest, said.
Multiple leaders, including Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi and Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, stood at the steps of the Parliament at Makar Dwar and protested against the Bihar SIR, calling for the exercise to be stopped.
Leaders were seen carrying posters condemning the revision exercise, holding placards calling it a "stealing of Indian Rights," "death of democracy," and more.The issue of Bihar SIR has been a contentious one with INDIA bloc MPs demanding a discussion on it in the parliament.
Meanwhile, Congress MP Imran Pratapgarhi slammed the government and the EC for carrying out the SIR exercise in Bihar, alleging that they want to cut the votes.
"We will raise this issue in the house, as they want to cut the votes. The entire opposition is speaking on it and is united," he told ANI.
Congress MP Karti Chidambaram said, "I view the SIR like the Jim Crow laws in America during the days of segregation...SIR is going to be used as a tool to disenfranchise people of the minority community".
Several Congress MPs moved adjournment motion notices in both houses of the Parliament to discuss the ongoing voter list revision in Bihar.
Congress MPs Gaurav Gogoi, S Jothimani, Ranjeet Ranjan and Neeraj Dangi moved the notice for an adjournment motion to discuss the same issue today. However, the upper and lower houses witnessed chaos and were adjourned till 2:00 PM amid sloganeering by the opposition.