If SIR has errors, what were Oppn BLOs doing instead of rectifying them: UP minister Rajbhar

Lucknow, Oct 18 (IANS) Uttar Pradesh Minister Om Prakash Rajbhar lashed out at the Opposition on Sunday for raising accusations against the Election Commission of India (ECI) and asked why the Booth Level Officers (BLOs) of the opposition parties failed to prevent the “so-called errors” in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral rolls.

This comes as the Congress-led INDIA bloc, Cockroach Janata Party (CJP), student activists and other groups are organising separate protests in the national capital against the ECI and Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar over the SIR procedure of the electoral rolls.

Opposition parties have maintained that their demonstrations are intended to raise concerns over the electoral process, and demanded Gyanesh Kumar’s resignation from the post of the Chief Election Commissioner.

Addressing allegations of irregularities in the voter list, Minister Rajbhar told IANS, “If there are any errors in the SIR, the Election Commission provides opportunities to rectify them from time to time. If an error exists, the responsibility lies with the individual who was present at the booth and served as the Booth Level Officer. Every party had appointed its own booth-level representatives. What were the BLOs from the Samajwadi Party, Bahujan Samaj Party, or other parties actually observing? Were their BLOs simply asleep?”

The Uttar Pradesh Minister also questioned the use of the phrase ‘regime change’ by the opposition leaders and student activists amid the ongoing protests in the national capital against the ECI and CEC Gyanesh Kumar.

Speaking on the issue, Rajbhar noted, “India and Bangladesh cannot be compared from a constitutional perspective. Such a scenario is not possible in India.”

While talking about the detentions at Jantar Mantar during the anti-ECI protests, Minister Rajbhar said that the protesters should follow the rules and not demonstrate at the place when they don’t have permission to do so.

Jantar Mantar has been de-notified as the designated protesting site by the government.

“If you hold an event in a place where you do not have permission, would you not face action?” the Uttar Pradesh Minister asked.

–IANS

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