Hyderabad: Telangana Congress president B Mahesh Kumar Goud on Sunday accused the BJP-led Union govt of misusing the Election Commission of India (ECI) and alleged that the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise was aimed at deleting secular votes. He called upon party workers to ensure that no genuine voter’s name is removed from the electoral rolls in Telangana during the revision process.Addressing a meeting of parliamentary constituency in-charges along with AICC leader Meenakshi Natarajan on SIR, Goud said the Congress would protect the voting rights of every citizen in the state.A delegation of Congress leaders also met the chief electoral officer and urged him to ensure that the SIR process is conducted in a transparent manner. The delegation also urged the election authorities to extend the duration of the SIR exercise as no major election is scheduled in the state in the near future.The TPCC chief also hit out at BJP state president N Ramchander Rao for his comments on Rahul Gandhi, and demanded that the BJP arrange a meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. “The Congress would ask him when he will fulfil his promises of creating two crore jobs every year, depositing ₹15 lakh into the bank account of every poor citizen and doubling farmers’ income. Will the state BJP come forward for a debate on these promises made by Modi?” Goud asked.Meanwhile, representatives of the Congress’ Gulf countries wing met transport minister Ponnam Prabhakar and discussed measures to safeguard the voting rights of Gulf workers and NRIs during the SIR exercise.They urged the minister to visit Gulf countries to directly interact with the expatriates from Telangana. Ponnam said the role of the Telangana diaspora is crucial to the state’s development, and the govt remains committed to resolving their issues and protecting their voting rights.
