Should ghosts vote in Bihar, BJP asks Rahul
BJP
has taken a swipe at Congress MP
Rahul Gandhi
over his criticism of the ongoing special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Bihar.
BJP state spokesperson Neeraj Kumar on Wednesday questioned the leader of the opposition in the Lok Sabha, asking whether he wanted "bhoot-pret" (ghosts) to vote in the upcoming Bihar assembly elections.
While addressing a rally in Assam on Wednesday, Rahul alleged that a new voter list was being prepared in Bihar by removing the names of lakhs of people. "I want to warn the people of Assam that what they (BJP) did in Maharashtra and what they are trying to do in Bihar, they will try to do the same in Assam as well. It is the responsibility of all of you and us that we do not let them do this," Rahul said.
According to the Election Commission of India (ECI) report released on Wednesday, more than 35 lakh (35,69,435) of the total 7.90 crore voters in Bihar were not found at their addresses.
"Probably 12,55,620 (1.59%) of them were deceased electors and 17,37,336 (2.2%) have probably shifted permanently so far," the ECI stated.
The BJP's Neeraj claimed the Congress and RJD wanted even the dead to vote. "The names of those who have died in the last 22 years are still present in the voter list. Should the ECI not remove their names? Does Congress want infiltrators and illegal citizens to vote too? Congress wants to win elections with the help of fake voters," Neeraj alleged.
"Article 326 makes it clear that only Indian citizens have the right to vote. But Congress is constantly opposing constitutional institutions," he said.
BJP ally HAM(S) national president and minister Santosh Suman also criticised the RJD, claiming they had no remorse for the 15 years of jungle raj and were once again trying to scare the people of Bihar to garner votes.
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