SIR process in Punjab is being conducted by state, says BJP

Chandigarh: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Saturday launched a sharp attack on the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) over its protest outside the Election Commission's office in New Delhi against the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.

Punjab BJP President Kewal Singh Dhillon has said the entire SIR process in Punjab was being conducted by the state government and that the Central government had no role in it.

"Do Arvind Kejriwal and the Aam Aadmi Party no longer trust their own government?" Dhillon asked.

He said it was surprising the Punjab government was conducting the SIR process itself and also staging a protest against it.

Dhillon added that Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann and AAP Convener Arvind Kejriwal had repeatedly assured the public that no legitimate voter's name would be deleted from the electoral rolls in Punjab.

"When the Chief Minister (Bhagwant Mann) and the party's (AAP) national convener (Arvind Kejriwal) have themselves given this assurance, what is the justification for staging a protest outside the Election Commission's office?" he asked.

The State BJP President said the AAP government no longer had the courage to answer questions raised by the people.

"The state government was under pressure over several serious issues, including pending dearness allowance (DA), the drug problem, gangster-related activities, deteriorating law and order, and Punjab's continuously rising debt."

"Instead of answering these questions, the Aam Aadmi Party was attempting to divert public attention through protests and demonstrations," Dhillon said.

Referring to a 2015 video of Kejriwal, the State BJP President said that the AAP Convener had himself claimed that Delhi had more than 1.1 million duplicate voters.

"In the video, Kejriwal could also be seen saying that he had submitted a list of such voters to the Election Commission."

Dhillon asked why Kejriwal was now objecting to the verification of electoral rolls and the removal of fake names under the SIR process, when he had previously raised the issue of fraudulent voters himself.

"Why is he (Arvind Kejriwal) now taking a U-turn on an issue that he had himself raised earlier?" he asked.

Dhillon said that the AAP, which he accused of undermining democracy through electoral manipulation and vote theft, had no moral standing to stage such protests.

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