New Delhi, Sep 2 (IANS) As 2.07 crore of the 9.78 crore electors in Maharashtra are being deleted from the draft electoral rolls during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR), Congress MP Imran Masood on Wednesday questioned the Election Commission of India (ECI)’s electoral revision process, saying either the previous election or the current exercise was wrong.

“Let me tell you one thing. Either the previous election was wrong, or this is wrong. One thing is certainly wrong. You tell us that all the elections held since 2024 are illegal. The votes that you deleted are now being restored in Bengal. Then questions will be raised against you (the Election Commission),” Masood told IANS.

He further criticised the ECI and said the country would remember its actions.

“I would like to tell the Election Commissioner that the country will remember this. This country has not forgotten T.N. Seshan; he showed what the Election Commission is. This country will not forget you either, because you have ruined it,” he said.

Masood’s remarks came after Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said that the “BJP and the ‘Vote Chori Aayog’ keep changing their tactics, and they will continue to do so — the goal remains just one: BJP’s victory at any cost, and the end of India’s democracy.”

Gandhi, who has repeatedly targeted the Election Commission over the last two years, referred to the Maharashtra Assembly and Lok Sabha elections in 2024, saying, “Maharashtra 2024 — Suddenly, 3.9 million new voters were added between the Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabha elections. I said it then, and I say it today: This was vote theft.”

Masood also reacted to the issue of seat-sharing for the upcoming Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections. He said the Congress should receive a respectable share of seats based on its organisational growth and contribution.

“In 2017, we had two MPs, and in total, we had 44 MPs. In 2017, Akhilesh Yadav was the Chief Minister. At that time, we got 107 (Assembly) seats. Now our position is not the same. Our growth should be reflected in the seat allocation,” he told IANS.

Reacting to reports that the Congress is preparing to demand 115-120 seats in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections, Masood said he was unaware of the figure.

“I don’t know where you got this figure from. We will go into the elections from a position of respect. Rahul Gandhi has worked hard to build Congress, and we will not let that hard work go to waste. We will not go without a respectable position,” he said.

–IANS

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