Darbhanga (Bihar) [India], November 5 : Union Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change Bhupender Yadav on Thursday targeted the INDIA bloc over its criticism of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, saying the opposition questions the exercise in places where it loses elections but does not raise objections where it wins.
Yadav was addressing the ‘Loktantra Bachao, Arajakta Hatao’ (Save Democracy, Remove Anarchy) march in Darbhanga. The march began from the protest site at Polo Ground and was scheduled to pass through Laheriasarai Tower, Lohia Chowk, Bakarganj and GN Ganj before returning to Polo Ground.
Addressing the gathering, Yadav said Bihar had a historical connection with democracy and referred to the ancient republic of Vaishali as an example of public representation and debate.
“This is the land that has been the mother of democracy. When the world was beginning to learn democracy, Bihar had a republic. The republic of Vaishali was a great example for the world. A republic is meant for reasoning, for raising the issues of the public, and for true representation of the people,” he said.
On the SIR exercise, the Union Minister said electoral roll revisions were not being conducted for the first time and claimed that the process had been carried out eight times since 1950, making the current exercise the ninth.
“Understand one thing: this SIR is not happening for the first time in the country. From 1950 until today, it has been conducted eight times before, and this is the ninth time it is taking place. So, this is nothing new,” he said.
Explaining the need for revising electoral rolls, Yadav said the exercise was necessary to update voter lists by removing the names of deceased persons and those who had shifted to other locations.
“Why does an SIR happen? Because after a long duration, electoral rolls need to be updated so that the names of deceased individuals can be removed. Sometimes, girls get married and move to their in-laws’ houses while their names remain on the list; sometimes, a brother gets a job and moves abroad or to another place; and sometimes, our names are registered in both the village and the city,” he said.
Earlier, Yadav had targeted the Mahagathbandhan, alleging that it questioned the SIR process selectively depending on election results.
“Wherever the Mahagathbandhan loses, the SIR becomes wrong, but where it wins, no questions are raised about the SIR,” he said.
He further said that people had recognised the opposition’s approach and would no longer be influenced by its claims. Yadav also accused the opposition of attempting to create confusion among the public regarding democracy and the electoral process.