Revanth Reddy accuses BJP of ‘vote theft’ during SIR in Telangana

Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy accused the BJP-led Union government of conspiring to “steal votes” in non-BJP-ruled states during the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. He alleged that the BJP was attempting to win the next Assembly elections in Telangana by deleting the votes of Congress supporters.

He claimed that the BJP had won elections in Maharashtra and Bihar by “removing votes” and was now adopting the same tactic in Telangana.

Participating in a meeting of local Congress leaders and workers in the Kodangal Assembly constituency on Saturday, the chief minister criticised the BJP for allegedly targeting SC, ST and minority voters during the SIR.

“We will not sit idly by and are ready to counter the BJP’s move to delete the names of Congress supporters. Party workers will not tolerate any such attempt,” he said.

Reddy alleged that the BJP had used the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to target political rivals in previous elections. He claimed the ruling party was now resorting to vote deletions.

The chief minister objected to the deletion of voters’ names on the grounds of minor errors and alleged that the BRS was supporting the BJP’s efforts to remove votes to defeat the Congress.

Reddy stressed that protecting citizens’ right to vote was the responsibility of Congress leaders and workers. He asked senior leaders to take responsibility for safeguarding voters’ rights and urged Booth Level Agents (BLAs) to coordinate at the village level to ensure that the votes of poor people were not deleted.

He directed each Congress leader to take responsibility for four villages and ensure that not a single eligible vote was deleted from any polling booth.