Hyderabad: Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy on Monday alleged a “conspiracy” to delete 20 crore voters from electoral rolls across the country under the guise of the special intensive revision (SIR) of the electoral roll, and accused the Election Commission of India (ECI) of being used to benefit the BJP ahead of the 2029 general elections.
He claimed that 13 crore names had been deleted from the voter lists, and alleged that the number could be increased to 20 crore by the 2029 elections. Revanth Reddy compared the ECI’s role to that of the British-era Simon Commission and called for a nationwide “SIR Go Back” movement on the lines of the “Simon Go Back” agitation during the freedom struggle.
Revanth Reddy alleged that SIR had been brought in to remove the voting rights of the poor and charged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was using the Election Commission in the same manner as the British used the Simon Commission.
The Chief Minister questioned the concentration of powers with Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, asking why booth-level officers (BLOs) and district collectors were required if all powers were being put in the hands of Gyanesh Kumar.
Participating in a conclave in Delhi, Revanth Reddy said the BJP was chanting “Jai Sri Ram” while targeting those who chanted “Hara Hara Mahadeva”. “They are saying Jai Sri Ram. We are saying Hara Hara Mahadeva. The BJP does not like those chanting Hara Hara Mahadeva. Sri Ram is god of rich people and Shankara (Mahadeva) is god of poor people. The BJP is on the side of the rich while we are on the side of the poor. We are on the side of the poor, while the BJP is on the side of the rich.” ” he remarked.
The Chief Minister said people in the South were Shiva devotees while north Indians were devotees of Sri Ram, and described the political divide in terms of “Dravidians” (south) and “Aryans” (north). “That is why BJP leaders say Jai Sri Ram. Did they ever say Hara Hara Mahadeva?” he questioned.
He alleged that 13 crore votes had been deleted across the country with the 2029 elections in mind and questioned how the number of voters could decline when the population of the country was not declining. He alleged that Modi was attempting to delete votes of people opposed to him and was seeking to remove a total of 20 crore votes across the country.
The Chief Minister said the country had once united by raising the slogan “Simon Go Back” and asserted that the time had come for people across the country to unite by raising the slogan “SIR Go Back”.
Referring to Telangana’s development concerns, Revanth Reddy said Prime Minister Narendra Modi, when he was the Chief Minister of Gujarat, had received cooperation from the then prime minister Manmohan Singh for development projects in Gujarat. In contrast, he alleged, Modi as the Prime Minister was not extending similar cooperation to Telangana.
Revanth Reddy alleged that the Centre had blocked approvals for the Regional Ring Road when the government was preparing to call tenders. He further alleged that the BJP-led government at the Centre was obstructing the Hyderabad Metro Rail project.
“This is not North versus South. It appears to be Gujarat versus the entire country,” Revanth Reddy said, alleging that Modi, who represents Uttar Pradesh, was diverting funds to Gujarat. On delimitation, he said increasing the number of Lok Sabha seats purely on the basis of population would benefit larger States disproportionately and cause smaller States to lose out.
He said providing quality education in Telangana was the first priority of his government and that the State was accordingly developing government schools on par with private institutions.
He said the government was giving priority to education from nursery to Class 12 and would focus on skills after Class 12.
The Chief Minister said the outdated Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs) were being upgraded into Advanced Technology Centres (ATCs). He said blue-collar jobs would have greater demand in the future and pointed to employment opportunities in countries such as Japan, Germany and South Korea. He said learning German and Japanese would therefore help young people access better employment opportunities in the future.
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