Shimla, November 1: Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma launched a sharp attack on Congress leader Rahul Gandhi over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, alleging that Gandhi was opposing the exercise because names of alleged infiltrators had been removed from voter lists.
Sarma made the remarks while leading the BJP’s ‘Loktantra Bachao, Arajakta Hatao’ (Save Democracy, Remove Anarchy) padyatra in Shimla, Himachal Pradesh, on Sunday.
“Rahul Gandhi is crying because the names of infiltrators have been removed through the SIR process,” Sarma said. He alleged that the Congress was opposing the exercise to facilitate the inclusion of infiltrators in electoral rolls. However, he did not present specific evidence to substantiate the allegation.
Citing Assam and West Bengal, Sarma claimed that the issue of infiltration was a concern in both states and questioned how names of alleged infiltrators could be removed from electoral rolls without the SIR exercise.
He also accused the Congress of adopting double standards on electoral processes, arguing that the party questioned the system in BJP-ruled states while defending it in states governed by the Congress.
Referring to Rahul Gandhi’s electoral victory from Rae Bareli, Sarma questioned whether the Congress would also challenge elections in Himachal Pradesh, Kerala and Gandhi’s own constituency if it continued to oppose the revision exercise.
The Assam Chief Minister also criticised the INDIA bloc for holding its rally in Delhi on November 1, the anniversary of the 1984 anti-Sikh violence. In a post on social media, he urged Rahul Gandhi and other Opposition leaders to apologise to the Sikh community and observe two minutes of silence in memory of those killed.
Senior Himachal BJP leaders, including Rajiv Bindal, Anurag Thakur and Suresh Kashyap, participated in the Shimla march. Similar counter-marches were organised in Rohtak, Haryana, under BJP national president Nitin Nabin, while the BJP and its Mahayuti allies also held a march in Mumbai.
The BJP’s counter-marches coincided with the INDIA bloc’s ‘Vote Bachao, Desh Bachao’ rally at Delhi’s Ramlila Maidan, where Opposition leaders protested against the SIR exercise and raised allegations against the Election Commission.
