The Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls has set up a street contest in Telangana. The Congress and the BJP have announced rival programmes a day apart.
Congress: a 'vote chori' dharna in Delhi
The Chief Minister, Deputy CM, ministers, MLAs and MPs will travel to a dharna at Delhi's Ramlila Maidan on November 1. The party plans to move nearly 20,000 workers on special trains. Its main demand is the removal of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar. The INDIA bloc also wants SIR halted, illegally deleted names restored and elections held on paper ballots. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said the date will not change, despite Delhi traders asking for a postponement until after Deepavali.
BJP: 'Loktantra Bachao – Arajakta Hatao'
State BJP president N. Ramchander Rao said on Monday that Union Home Minister Amit Shah will join a "massive" padayatra in Hyderabad on November 2. He accused the Congress of spreading a false narrative on SIR. Of the 13 crore names the opposition says were removed, Rao said 2.8 crore were dead, 3 crore absent, 6.3 crore permanently shifted and nearly 1 crore registered in more than one place. He challenged Congress ministers to name at least 10 voters whose names were wrongly deleted.
Rao condemned Kharge's remarks about the Prime Minister's parents and said the BJP will burn Congress effigies at all district headquarters, including Hyderabad. Shah is due at another padayatra in Karnal, Haryana, on November 5.
What next
The route and length of the Hyderabad padayatra have not been announced. The reports carry no fresh response from the Election Commission to the Congress charges.
