NEW DELHI, Sept 29: Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Tuesday accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of destroying the economy through demonetisation and undermining democracy through a “vote ban”.
Addressing a Congress Working Committee meeting here, Kharge alleged that Modi was trying to take away the voting rights of poor and backward sections. He said voting was the strongest right of the poor, Dalits, deprived and oppressed people.
“History bears witness that 10 years ago, this Prime Minister destroyed India’s economy through demonetisation. And now, after 10 years, he is destroying our strong democracy through a conspiracy of vote ban,” Kharge said.
He also attacked the Election Commission over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, describing Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar as a “puppet” of the Modi government and demanding his resignation.
Kharge alleged that names of many people had been deleted from voter lists through a conspiracy. He demanded that details of large-scale changes in the rolls be made public, those whose names were deleted be informed, and they be given an opportunity to appeal.
He also sought timely and easily understandable electoral data for political parties, an independent probe into discrepancies in voter lists, and transparency in the Election Commission’s functioning. Kharge demanded Modi’s resignation on moral grounds, alleging that the Chief Election Commissioner was working under the Prime Minister’s pressure.
Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi, Jairam Ramesh, K C Venugopal and several other senior Congress leaders attended the meeting.
The Election Commission had earlier said it had responded to allegations related to the special revision of electoral rolls. It said the process was being conducted in accordance with legal provisions.
