‘SIR is not new’: Yogi Adityanath invokes past roll revisions to hit out at opposition

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Sunday accused the Congress party and its allies of weakening democratic institutions for political interests and said they should apologise to the nation for their criticism of the Election Commission and the SIR.

Yogi Adityanath attacks opposition over SIR

He termed the recent statements by the opposition parties on the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls "extremely irresponsible".

The chief minister's remarks follow the demand by Congress and several other parties and organisations for the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar after a recent investigation by The Indian Express claimed that two election commissioners formally objected at least 14 times over a 10-month period to the poll panel's handling of the SIR process.

Addressing reporters at his residence here, Adityanath said, "Congress and its allies should apologise to the constitutional institutions of the country and to the people for their actions."

He said the SIR was not being conducted for the first time and that the exercise had been carried out in 1952, 1957, 1961, 1965-66 and 2003, when Congress-led governments were in power for much of the period.

"Despite all this, the kind of uproar that the Congress, Samajwadi Party, RJD and other parties have created over the SIR this time is extremely unfortunate," he said.

CM questions opposition's criticism of EVMs

The chief minister accused the opposition parties of blaming the Election Commission and electronic voting machines (EVMs) when they lose elections.

"If elections are won, it is their achievement. If people reject them because of their corruption, economic misconduct, wrong policies and anarchic actions, then how justified is it to blame the Election Commission or EVMs? These parties should introspect," he said.

Adityanath also accused the Congress of repeatedly questioning the country's constitutional institutions.

He referred to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's remarks concerning the judiciary and the Election Commission and criticised the Congress for describing EVMs as a "black box".

"An EVM through which Congress governments have themselves been formed, both at the Centre and in several states, is called a black box and questions are raised over India's electoral system and the world's largest democracy. This is extremely unfortunate," he said.

The chief minister also invoked the Emergency imposed in 1975, alleging that Congress governments had in the past "unethically and illegally" brought down elected governments of opposition parties.

He further alleged that questions had been raised over the valour of the armed forces after the Balakot airstrike and during Operation Sindoor.

"Where is the patriotism in questioning the valour of the Indian Army on the Balakot airstrike and making a malicious attempt to put the valour of our brave soldiers during Operation Sindoor in the dock?" he said.

Adityanath says voters left out can submit forms

Speaking about the SIR, Adityanath said the three election commissioners had appeared before the media and explained the poll panel's position.

He said directions have already been issued to provide an opportunity to voters who had been left out to submit the required forms.

"Democracy has no place for violence, there should be no place for vandalism and there should be no place for this kind of misinformation," he said.

Adityanath alleged that the Congress and its allies were attempting to "weaken democratic values and institutions" by questioning the Election Commission.

The Congress has alleged irregularities in the electoral roll revision and demanded action against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.

On September 25, Congress workers staged protests in several cities, including Lucknow, demanding Kumar's resignation; demonstrations were also held outside election offices in various states, with police using water cannons at some locations.