"Unless you win the election, it will not matter," says Congress' Salman Khurshid on Bihar SIR controversy

India Gazette

4 days ago

Patna (Bihar) [India], July 12 (ANI): Amidst the ongoing political turmoil in Bihar due to the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls being conducted by the Election Commission of India (ECI), Congress leader Salman Khurshid on Saturday said it doesn't matter if anyone raises questions on the EC as in the end winning the election will only matter.
'Whoever is raising questions (on the Election Commission), let them... The reality is that, ultimately, unless you win the election, your point will not matter', Salman Khurshid told ANI.
Salman Khurshid's statement has come at such a time when many of his senior party members are strongly opposing ECI's move to conduct a revision of electoral rolls in Bihar.
On Friday, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Friday called the Bharatiya Janata Part 'chori ki sarkar, choron ki sarkar' (forming a government of thieves) in Maharashtra by manipulating voter rolls, and a similar manipulation of electoral rolls is happening with the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in Bihar ahead of the elections.
While speaking at the 'Samvidhan Bachao Samavesh' event in Odisha's Bhubaneswar, Kharge said that out of the 7 crore voters in Bihar, 2 crore voters will be left out of the electoral rolls due to the ongoing SIR, and appealed to the people to 'oust the traitors and teach them a lesson.'
'There is a 'chori ki sarkar', 'choron ki sarkar' in Maharashtra. 85 lakh voters were changed and then BJP Govt came to power there. Similarly in Bihar, out of 7 crore voters there, 2 crore voters are being cancelled,' the Congress president said.
Meanwhile, Congress MP Rahul Gandhi Friday accused Election Commission of India of 'hatching a conspiracy' for 'chunav chori (election theft)' in Bihar, referring to poll-body's decision to revise electoral rolls in the state ahead of assembly election there.
Addressing Samvidhan Bachao Samavesh in Bhubaneswar, Rahul Gandhi said that ECI is 'working as a BJP wing' and alleged that similar attempts to 'steal election' are being made in Bihar just like they were made in Maharashtra.
'BJP is attacking the constitution. Yesterday I was in Bihar. Just like 'chunav chori' was done in Maharashtra, similar attempts are being made to do 'chunav chori' in Bihar. EC has hatched a new conspiracy for 'chunav chori'. EC is working as a BJP wing, it is not doing its own job,' Rahul Gandhi said.
The Supreme Court on Thursday allowed the Election Commission to continue with its exercise of conducting a Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in poll-bound Bihar.
A bench of Justices Sudhanshu Dhulia and Joymalya Bagchi did not stay the SIR process but asked the ECI to consider allowing Aadhaar, ration cards, and electoral photo identity cards as admissible documents to prove voter identity during the SIR of electoral rolls being undertaken in Bihar.
'We are of the prima facie opinion that in the interest of justice, the Election Commission will also include documents like Aadhaar, Ration Card, Voter ID card, etc.. It is for the ECI to decide whether it wants to accept the documents or not, and if it does not, then provide reasons for its decision, which shall be sufficient to satisfy the petitioners. Meanwhile, petitioners are not pressing for an interim stay,' the bench stated in its order. (ANI)