Revanth Reddy likens fight to protect voting rights to freedom struggle

Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy likened the campaign to safeguard voting rights to another freedom struggle and urged Congress leaders in Delhi to participate. He accused the BJP government of misusing voter list revision and called for protecting eligible voters’ names.

Hyderabad: Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy has likened the ongoing fight to safeguard citizens’ voting rights to another freedom struggle and directed Ministers, MPs, MLAs and MLCs in New Delhi to actively participate in the campaign.

Speaking at a meeting at Telangana Bhavan in Delhi on Monday, he alleged that the BJP government was conspiring to delete voters’ names under the guise of voter list revision, in collusion with Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar. The Chief Minister accused the Narendra Modi government of misusing the revision process for political gains. He also alleged that the Centre was using agencies such as the Enforcement Directorate (ED), Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), Income Tax Department and Narcotics Control Bureau to target political opponents.

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He further alleged that the Centre had introduced the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls because it was finding it difficult to counter political rivals through these agencies alone. “The Election Commission is a constitutional body and functions independently and impartially. Using such an institution for political purposes is detrimental to democracy,” Revanth Reddy said.

Recalling Dr BR Ambedkar’s role in securing voting rights for people across social sections, the Chief Minister said everyone now had a responsibility to protect this right. He called for measures to prevent the deletion of eligible voters’ names from electoral rolls and restore public confidence in the electoral process. The Congress and the INDIA bloc would intensify their struggle to safeguard the right to vote, he added.