Jammu: BJP national vice president Ram Madhav on Tuesday accused the Congress and its leader Rahul Gandhi of deliberately spreading false propaganda over the SIR issue as they were unable to challenge the BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi through democratic elections.
The Congress, he charged, was attempting to destabilise the country, undermine democratic institutions and create an atmosphere of anarchy to capture political power outside the democratic process.
However, the people of the country would never allow the Congress and its allies to succeed, he asserted.
Addressing a press conference here, Madhav claimed that the Congress’s objective was no longer confined to electoral politics but involved creating instability and distrust in constitutional institutions to bring about a change of government.
The Congress and its leader Rahul Gandhi were deliberately spreading “false propaganda” over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls because they were unable to challenge the BJP and Prime Minister Modi through democratic elections, he said.
“Congress’s objective today is not to come to power through democratic means or by contesting elections. Instead, it is attempting to create disorder in the country, undermine public confidence in our democratic institutions and use unrest as a means to capture power,” the BJP leader alleged.
Taking serious exception to references to regime change by opposition leaders, Madhav claimed the Congress was looking towards political developments in Bangladesh and Nepal as models for bringing about a change of government in the country.
“When they talk about regime change, they are not referring to democratic regime change. Their own leaders are openly talking on television and social media about bringing regime change like Bangladesh and Nepal. Their intentions are clear,” he said.
He alleged that the Congress, unable to defeat the BJP and Modi through elections, was resorting to misinformation and attempts to manufacture political unrest.
“The people of this country will never allow the Congress Party, with its mindset of creating anarchy, to fulfill its objectives,” he said.
Referring to the Congress-led protest in Delhi, he said, “If the Congress brings together 50,000 people to spread false propaganda, we will reach five lakh villages and inform 100 crore voters about the truth.”
Madhav also accused the Congress of deliberately attempting to discredit India’s democratic system, which he said had earned international recognition as the world’s largest democracy over nearly eight decades of independence.
Defending the electoral roll revision exercise, Madhav described SIR as a constitutional process intended to remove discrepancies, including the names of deceased voters, people who had shifted residence, duplicate entries, individuals who could not be traced at their registered addresses and illegally settled infiltrators.
He said the Election Commission had already filed an affidavit before the Supreme Court, presenting the details of the exercise and responding to allegations concerning the revision process.
Questioning the Congress’s claim that approximately 13 crore names had been deleted, Madhav challenged the opposition to produce individuals who could establish that their names had been wrongly removed.
“Despite all the campaigning and propaganda by Congress, the party has not been able to bring even a single person onto a public platform who can stand up and say, ‘My vote has been deleted’,” he claimed.
He pointed out that nearly 90 lakh people die in India every year, arguing that periodic revision of electoral rolls was necessary to remove the names of deceased individuals and maintain accurate voter records.
Madhav also alleged that Congress was using the SIR controversy to conceal its own political failures and create suspicion about the Election Commission.
The SIR exercise had been completed in several states, while it remained pending in other states and UTs, including Jammu and Kashmir, he said, adding the exercise was being conducted through a constitutionally established mechanism.
He said any genuine grievances or discrepancies could be addressed through the Election Commission’s prescribed procedures.
“Every allegation being levelled by Congress against the SIR process is false. The process currently underway is intended to clean up electoral rolls and rectify irregularities through a constitutionally established procedure,” he said.
Madhav also accused the Congress of using misinformation to weaken public confidence in the country’s electoral institutions and democratic framework, asserting that the BJP would counter the misinformation campaign nationwide.