AAP accuses BJP of using ECI to delete votes through SIR to grab power in Punjab

Chandigarh, May 14 (PTI) On a day when the ECI rolled out phase 3 of the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls in 16 states, Punjab's ruling AAP on Thursday accused the BJP of intending to use the poll body and the SIR exercise to "delete voters and grab power in the border state".
     Citing the recent assembly polls in West Bengal, and also questioning the autonomy and neutrality of the Election Commission, AAP leaders said democracy cannot survive if the poll panel continues to function in a "partisan manner".
     The ECI on Thursday rolled out phase 3 of the SIR of electoral rolls in 16 states including Punjab and three Union Territories involving 36.73 crore voters in a staggered manner beginning May 30.
     Cabinet ministers and AAP leaders in Punjab, Aman Arora and Harpal Singh Cheema, said that constitutional institutions in the country are "rapidly losing their impartial character" under the BJP rule and are increasingly being "misused" to influence electoral outcomes in favour of the ruling party at the Centre.
     The functioning of the Election Commission has raised serious questions across the country.
     "We saw it in the Delhi assembly elections, where thousands of BJP-favoured votes were manufactured and AAP's genuine votes were cut," alleged Arora.
     Referring to West Bengal, Arora said, "The whole world witnessed how first 91 lakh voters were deleted from the rolls and later 60 lakh were wrongly declared dead. Even after the elections, according to the TMC, there were 31 constituencies where the BJP's victory margin was less than the number of votes deleted."
     Any electoral exercise conducted with a prejudiced mindset and wrong intent loses its democratic meaning, he alleged, adding that "no difficulty or hurdle can stop us from working for Punjab", but the process must be clean, transparent and impartial.
     Highlighting the work of the Punjab government, Arora, who is also AAP's Punjab president, said the government has earned the trust and affection of the people through honest governance and pro-people policies.
     "We have no difficulties with SIR. We have been working for the welfare of the people and the people of Punjab have given their hearts to the Mann government.
     "But elections must be held in a clean, honest and transparent manner. The loot of people's votes must not happen, not through SIR or in the name of any authority," Arora added.
     Reiterating AAP's demand for a level-playing field and complete transparency in SIR and all future elections, Arora said, "Democracy cannot survive if the poll panel continues to function in a partisan manner."
     Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema said that the BJP is using the ECI "as a political weapon" in states where it cannot secure victory democratically on its own strength.
     He alleged that the BJP first pushes for exercises like the SIR under the pretext of voter list purification and later uses them to delete voters on a large scale for electoral benefit.
     The people of Punjab would unitedly "expose" the BJP's anti-Punjab mindset and resist every attempt to weaken the state politically and constitutionally, Cheema claimed.
     "The BJP wants to capture power in Punjab by manipulating voter lists and simultaneously weaken Punjab's rights and institutions," said Cheema.
     "The BJP wants to use the Election Commission and the SIR exercises to delete voters and grab power in Punjab. Their larger agenda is to snatch Punjab's river waters, take control of the Bhakra Beas Management Board (BBMB), weaken Punjab's federal rights and even take away Chandigarh and Panjab University from the Punjabis," the minister said.
     He also said that three crore Punjabis would stand united against the BJP's "conspiracies" and teach the party a historic lesson.
     "The people of Punjab will completely reject the BJP's anti-Punjab politics. This time, Punjabis will ensure that the BJP is politically wiped out from the state," added Cheema.

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)