'We are against the second phase of SIR': Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi

Wayanad (Kerala), Oct 29 (IANS) Congress MP and General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi on Wednesday attacked the Election Commission over the second phase of Special Intensive Revision (SIR), which will be undertaken in 12 states/Union Territories (UTs).

Talking to media personnel in Malappuram, Priyanka Gandhi, the MP from Wayanad, said: "We are strongly opposed to it. It's only a way to commit fraud and cheat in elections."

Referring to the SIR conducted just a few months before the high-intensity Bihar Assembly elections, she said: "We've seen what they've done in Bihar and how they have implemented the SIR over there, and if that's what they're going to do in every state, it is an affront to democracy and we have to fight it."

The Congress leader is on a two-day visit to Wayanad, during which she will inaugurate various development projects in her constituency.

She arrived at Karipur airport in the morning and travelled to Wayanad from there.

Earlier in the day, she inaugurated the newly constructed building of the Rajiv Gandhi Memorial Government Ayurveda Dispensary in Ernad in Malappuram district, which falls under her constituency.

On October 27, the ECI announced phase two of special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in 12 states and Union Territories (UTs).

Amongst them are poll-bound states of West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, and Kerala.

The SIR in 12 states will cover 51 crore voters, and the enumeration process will begin on November 4, Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar said.

The Chief Election Commissioner, during a press conference, thanked the people of Bihar for the successful completion of SIR in the state. "Voters in Bihar participated enthusiastically. As a result, not a single appeal was filed," he said.

The last SIR was done more than 21 years ago, in 2002-2004. It has already been done eight times between 1951 and 2004, the CEC noted in his remarks.

--IANS

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