AIMIM chief and Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi has described the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls as a “backdoor NRC”, alleging that the revised voter list could eventually be used as the basis for implementing the National Register of Citizens (NRC).
His comments come amid a wider political dispute over the Election Commission and the SIR exercise. Left parties and the Trinamool Congress (TMC) have been seeking a broader Opposition campaign over the functioning of the Election Commission and the SIR process. Former West Bengal Chief Minister and TMC chief Mamata Banerjee, addressing a rally in Hooghly, called for the removal of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and alleged that the SIR exercise had been used to target West Bengal. CPI(M) General Secretary MA Baby has called for a wider campaign against the Election Commission’s functioning, saying his party had reached out to organisations beyond the INDIA bloc.
The row intensified following a report by The Indian Express claiming that Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had raised objections at least 14 times over a 10-month period regarding decisions and procedures linked to the revision exercise.
He said the CPI(M) had also written to the Cockroach Janata Party (CJP) as part of efforts to build a broader movement.
Owaisi made the remarks on Saturday while reacting to an Opposition protest over the functioning of the Election Commission. “Whether we stand shoulder-to-shoulder or not is a matter for the future. However, we have been saying from the very beginning that SIR is a ‘backdoor NRC’. “What does that imply? It proves our point that this is a backdoor NRC; sooner or later, this government will implement the NRC and use this very voter list as the basis. You will find yourself standing in line again, being asked to produce documents. It is causing so much trouble. In my own constituency, I see people whose names are missing and who are facing immense hardship,” he added.
He said whether his party would stand “shoulder-to-shoulder” with other Opposition parties was a decision for the future, but reiterated his opposition to the SIR exercise. I reiterate that the country’s Home Minister has constituted a commission, headed by a retired Supreme Court judge, tasked with examining the demographic changes in areas where the final NRC was implemented; the Home Minister has stated that they will review the final NRC list,” Owaisi told ANI.
