BJP using SIR to cut electorate in opposition-ruled states, claims Yogendra Yadav
Kolkata (PTI): Eminent psephologist and activist Yogendra Yadav on Sunday reiterated that the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Bihar and West Bengal was just a test before a larger rollout.
Addressing a meeting at the Bharat Sabha Hall here, Yadav claimed that the BJP would leave no stone unturned to win the 2026 Bengal polls and was using the SIR process as a tool to reduce the number of electors.
"From the outset, I have said SIR is targeted at Bengal. As Bihar elections were only a few months away, the EC used the state as the testing ground to implement SIR. Now the BJP wants to go the whole hog in Bengal," he said in Hindi.
Yadav alleged that after failing to make a dent in opposition-ruled states like West Bengal in the past, the BJP was now hell-bent on using SIR as a last resort to reduce the electorate in such states.
He described the SIR exercise in Bengal as "the highest disenfranchisement ever" undertaken in the country.
"SIR is a votebandi exercise aimed at undermining and disenfranchising India’s adult voters who had cast their ballots in previous elections by benchmarking the 2002 year as a timeline for enrolling as legitimate voters," he said.
Referring to the claim by Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari that one crore voters may be omitted after the SIR, Yadav said, "Even if not the world, West Bengal will witness the largest ever disenfranchisement in India."
Questioning the criteria behind selecting states for SIR, Yadav said if the EC was concerned about infiltrators settling in the country after crossing the border, “why did they leave out Assam as the first state? Because Assam is not ruled by an opposition government?”
On October 27, the EC announced SIR in West Bengal and eight other states and three Union Territories, while the exercise had already been completed in Bihar.
Yadav reiterated that the current SIR was not a rerun of the 2002 exercise, asserting that in that year, people neither had to fill forms nor provide documents to booth-level officers as they are being asked to do now.
On Saturday, Yadav claimed that it is not for the BJP to define as to who is an infiltrator and who is a refugee.
"It is for the law and the courts to decide who is an infiltrator and who is a refugee," he said.
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Chhattisgarh: Couple, two grandchildren killed over 'property' dispute; two relatives held
Janjgir (Chhattisgarh) (PTI): An elderly couple and their two grandchildren were allegedly murdered by two close relatives to grab family property in Chhattisgarh’s Janjgir-Champa district, police said on Thursday.
The couple’s one son, who had earlier spent 15 years in jail for killing his own brother, and his son have been taken into custody in connection with the murders, an official said.
The bodies were found inside their under-construction house in Bhanvtara village under the jurisdiction of the Shivrinarayan police station after labourers reached the site for work in the morning, a senior police official said.
The deceased were identified as Medani Prasad Kashyap (70), his wife Kanti Bai (65), their grandchildren Pitambar Kashyap (17) and Mogra (25).
The deceased couple’s son, Sonsai, and his son Dakeshwar have been taken into custody in connection with the murders, the official said.
According to the preliminary investigation, Medani Prasad had three sons, including Sonsai. Police said Sonsai had murdered one of his brothers in the past and had served a 15-year jail term in the case, while the couple’s third son had reportedly died by suicide.
Sonsai and his son Dakeshwar, alias Golu, allegedly killed his parents and the children of his two deceased brothers with an axe while they were asleep in the under-construction house, he said.
Pitambar was the only son of one deceased brother, while Mogra was the only daughter of another, the official said.
The accused allegedly wanted sole ownership of the family property and are suspected of having committed the crime to eliminate other claimants, police said.
A case has been registered, and further investigation is underway, the official added.
