KTR dares Revanth for public debate on Medigadda Barrage
Speaking at a meeting with the Dalit Bandhu Sadhana Samithi at Telangana Bhavan on Wednesday, Rama Rao launched a scathing attack on Revanth Reddy's credibility and knowledge. 'If he really believes the Medigadda barrage has collapsed, let him come there and debate in front of the people' said KTR. He reminded people that BRS had earlier invited the Chief Minister for a public debate, offering him three full days of preparation. 'We went to the Press Club, ready to debate. But Revanth ran away. He is a coward who talks big and disappears when confronted,' he said. 'Now again, I'm challenging him... let's have the debate, not at Nagarjunasagar as he challenged, but at Medigadda barrage itself,' KTR said.
The BRS leader mentioned that senior party leader and former Minister Jagadish Reddy had already visited the Medigadda site and renewed the challenge. 'If he has the courage, the Chief Minister must come and face us,' KTR demanded. He also stated that despite Revanth Reddy knowing well that it was former CM K Chandrashekar Rao who ensured water supply to tail-end farmers in regions like Tungaturthi and Suryapet, Revanth continues to spread blatant lies for political mileage, he alleged.
Continuing his criticism, the BRS working president condemned the repeated use of vulgar and undignified language by the CM. 'Revanth Reddy keeps calling me a thief. When asked to implement his poll promises, he shamelessly says things like 'Do what you want. Will you cut and bite me?' This is not the language of a responsible public representative. Let the people of Telangana respond to this in the upcoming local body elections,' he warned. Quoting the Constitution, KTR said, 'Dr BR Ambedkar would never have imagined that individuals like Revanth Reddy, frauds and conmen would come to power. That's why the Constitution gave a five-year term, otherwise there would've been a recall mechanism to throw such people out of office.' 'Personally, I don't believe in using abusive language in politics. But with Revanth, there is no choice. He only understands gutter language.
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Hindustan Times
40 minutes ago
- Hindustan Times
Many migrant workers from Bihar unaware of voter list revision: Survey
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Time of India
an hour ago
- Time of India
‘If Tejashwi has the courage, contest alone': Chirag Paswan dares RJD to boycott Bihar polls
Chirag Paswan challenges Tejashwi Yadav to boycott the Bihar assembly elections. Paswan questions RJD's ability to contest alone. He refers to RJD's past alliances. Paswan recalls his own party's solo fight in 2020. He accuses the opposition of spreading misinformation. PATNA: Union minister and LJP (Ram Vilas) president Chirag Paswan on Saturday dared RJD leader Tejashwi Prasad Yadav to boycott the coming assembly elections in Bihar due this year. Tejashwi has said the opposition will weigh the option of boycotting polls over the alleged discrepancies in the special intensive revision (SIR) of the electoral rolls conducted by the Election Commission of India (ECI). Chirag, who reached Patna on way to Gaya to address the Nav Sankalp Mahasabha, also challenged the RJD to contest the elections alone in Bihar. 'If Tejashwi has the courage, he must do it. RJD had been in power for 15 years, yet they did not have the courage to contest elections alone in Bihar. How can they who could not fight the elections alone boycott the polls?' he asked. The Union minister for food processing also attacked the opposition and said RJD also has an alliance with Congress which is the oldest party in the country. 'But Congress also does not have the courage to contest elections alone,' he said and added that Chirag Paswan had the courage to contest the elections alone in 2020. 'That, too, when my leader (Ram Vilas Paswan) passed away when the nomination for the first phase was going on,' Chirag further said and asked how those who cannot fight the election alone would boycott it. He said the opposition has the habit of intimidating people to get votes. 'Even during the Lok Sabha elections, the opposition said if the Modi govt comes back, reservation will end. Democracy will be finished. The Constitution will be amended. Today it has been one year since the govt came to power. Whose reservation was taken away. Where was democracy and the Constitution finished,' Chirag asked and said the opposition always tries to create confusion.
Indian Express
2 hours ago
- Indian Express
‘Grave fraud on voters': EC's citizenship verification in Bihar roll revision defies past SC judgments, says ADR
The Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), in its reply to the Election Commission's counter in the Supreme Court, has argued that the poll body's claim of having the constitutional authority to verify voters' citizenship during the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of Bihar's electoral rolls flies in the face of past judgments. It also called the exclusion of Aadhaar and ration cards from the list of acceptable documents 'patently absurd,' noting that Aadhaar is widely accepted when applying for passports, caste certificates, and permanent residence documents. The petitioner further said the EC had failed to justify why the revision exercise must be rushed ahead of the upcoming Assembly elections, describing the manner in which it is being conducted as a 'grave fraud' on the state's voters. Announced on June 24, the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of Bihar's electoral rolls has sparked controversy over both its timing and the requirement that voters enrolled after 2003 produce multiple documents to stay on the rolls, raising concerns about the potential disenfranchisement of a large number of electors and, eventually, prompting legal challenges in the SC. Acting on the Court's directions, ADR — a non-profit that works on electoral reforms — filed its rejoinder on Saturday to the Commission's counter-affidavit submitted on July 21. In that filing, the Commission had argued that under Article 326 of the Constitution it is within its rights to verify the citizenship of electors, and clarified that removal from the electoral rolls does not amount to termination of an individual's citizenship. The matter is next listed for hearing on July 28. Responding to the EC's argument that it has the authority to verify voters' citizenship, the petitioner said this contradicted previous Supreme Court rulings, including Lal Babu Hussain vs Union of India (1995), which held that the burden of proving citizenship lies with new applicants, not those already on the rolls. ADR also cited Inderjit Barua vs ECI (1985), where the Court held that being listed on the electoral roll was prima facie proof of citizenship, and the burden of disproving it rested with the objector. The rejoinder pointed to the Commission's instructions for the Bihar leg of the SIR, which require all voters added after 2003 to submit documents from a list of 11 prescribed by the EC, effectively putting the onus on post-2003 electors to prove their eligibility, including age and citizenship. '…It is submitted that the SIR process shifts the onus of citizenship proof on all existing electors in a state, whose names were registered by the ECI through a due process,' ADR submitted. It argued that the Commission had not explained why the established process under the RP Act and the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960 had to be replaced with fresh documentation requirements and a new enumeration form. Nor, ADR added, had the Commission furnished any data on complaints about foreign nationals or illegal migrants being included on the rolls. The poll body, in its July 21 affidavit, did not accept the apex court's suggestion to consider Aadhaar, Voter ID, and ration cards as valid proof for the ongoing intensive revision in Bihar, arguing that Aadhaar and ration cards can be obtained through fraudulent or falsified documentation. In its rejoinder, the NGO said that the 11 documents originally prescribed by the EC are equally susceptible to being procured using fake or false documentation. 'The fact that Aadhar card is one of the documents accepted for obtaining Permanent Residence Certificate, OBC/SC/ST Certificate and for passport – makes ECI's rejection of Aadhar (which is most widely held document) under the instant SIR order patently absurd,' it added. Calling the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) a 'grave fraud on the voters of Bihar,' ADR said reports from the ground suggest that the Commission's own June 24 guidelines are being violated Block Level Officers (BLOs). As per the order, BLOs were required to visit each home and give each elector two forms. 'Many voters have reported that their forms have been submitted online, despite never having met with any BLOs or signed any documents. Forms of even dead individuals have been reported to have been submitted,' the rejoinder alleged. ADR also flagged the lack of any clear procedure for scrutiny of the enumeration forms or verification of documents, arguing that this has handed Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) 'arbitrary, unbridled and excessive discretionary powers, which can disenfranchise a huge percentage of population in Bihar.' The June 24 EC order had stated that the last intensive revision in Bihar was conducted in 2003, and that the 2003 roll would serve as 'probative evidence' of citizenship for existing electors. For electors born after July 1, 1987, the EC required proof of citizenship of at least one parent, though it allowed them to rely on the 2003 roll if their parents were on it. ADR, however, questioned this distinction, arguing that it puts electors registered after 2003 at 'a larger risk of disenfranchisement.' It also questioned why the ECI had not placed on record the order of the 2003 revision and asked the court to direct it to do so. In the case of a 2004 order for intensive revision in North East states, which is available publicly, only new electors were asked to supply documents. The 2004 exercise was conducted over six months (July 1, 2004 to January 3, 2005), while the Bihar roll is being revised within a three-month window from June 25 to September 30, it said. The petitioner added that the EC had not explained why the SIR must be completed before the Bihar Assembly elections, or why the 2025 electoral roll, which underwent revision and was published in January, cannot be used for the upcoming polls. ADR argued that updating the electoral roll is a continuous process that already accounts for migration, deaths, and other demographic changes. It cited a January 7 press release by the Bihar Chief Electoral Officer, which noted that the Special Summary Revision 2025 was conducted on the EC's directions and had resulted in the addition of 12.03 lakh names and the deletion of 4.09 lakh. ADR also referred to the EC's instruction dated August 11, 2023, directing Chief Electoral Officers (CEOs) of all states and Union Territories to delete names from the rolls in cases of shifting, demographic similar entries (DSEs), and death. In its counter, EC had said that the SIR was being held to address the concerns of political parties. To this, ADR said 'not a single political party had asked ECI for a de novo exercise such as the one prescribed in the instant SIR order. The concerns of political parties were on the issue of addition of non-existent votes and deletion of genuine votes supporting the opposition parties and on the issue of casting of votes after closure of polls.' The legal challenge to the Bihar SIR was first heard on July 10 by a two-judge vacation bench of Justices Sudhanshu Dhulia and Joymalya Bagchi. While the Supreme Court declined to restrain the Election Commission from going ahead with the exercise, it suggested that the poll panel also consider accepting Aadhaar, voter ID, and ration cards — in addition to the list of 11 prescribed documents — for updating the rolls. The Court allowed the Commission to file a counter-affidavit by July 21 and listed the matter for a further hearing on July 28. By Friday, the Commission's deadline for collecting enumeration forms had passed. The EC said it had received forms from 7.23 crore electors, who would be included in the draft electoral roll. Around 65 lakh names would be deleted, as those electors were found to have died, shifted permanently, been enrolled in two places, or were untraceable, the poll panel said. Additional deletions may follow after the draft roll is published, as documents submitted by the 7.23 crore electors will be scrutinised before the final roll is released on September 30. Those excluded from the draft roll will have the opportunity to file claims and objections between August 1 and September 1. Damini Nath is an Assistant Editor with the national bureau of The Indian Express. She covers the housing and urban affairs and Election Commission beats. She has 11 years of experience as a reporter and sub-editor. Before joining The Indian Express in 2022, she was a reporter with The Hindu's national bureau covering culture, social justice, housing and urban affairs and the Election Commission. ... Read More
