Hyderabad (Telangana) [India], September 27 (ANI): All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief Asaduddin Owaisi on Sunday hit out at the Election Commission and the ruling central government, calling the Special Information Revision (SIR) process a "backdoor NRC" and warning citizens to take the ongoing voter verification process with utmost seriousness.
"I said earlier that SIR is a backdoor NRC, because we have seen what happened in Bihar and now we are seeing it in Hyderabad," he said.
Addressing a press conference, Owaisi criticised the recent handling of the Election Commission, pointing to internal dissent among the poll body's commissioners as reported by The Indian Express. He claimed that the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar has lost moral standing.
"In light of the objections raised internally by the commissioners, the CEC has lost the moral right to continue in office."
He criticised the new law governing the appointment of election commissioners, alleging it places the constitutional body under complete executive control to favour the ruling party. "The law was made wrongly, and an autonomous constitutional body has gone under complete executive control," Owaisi said.
The AIMIM chief urged citizens across the country not to take the SIR process lightly, warning that negligence could cost them their voting rights and citizenship. "This is not just about losing your right to vote; you could also be deprived of your citizenship. Therefore, take this with great depth and seriousness," he warned.
He instructed voters to respond to notices, appear at hearing centres with proper documents, and actively file Form 6 if their names, or the names of their living relatives, have been incorrectly omitted or wrongly marked as deceased or shifted.
Commenting on the caste census, Owaisi contrasted the ongoing process with the model implemented by Revanth Reddy's government in Telangana, calling the latter far more logical and concrete for assessing problems based on demographic data.
"The caste census conducted by Revanth Reddy's government in Telangana was very logical and concrete. If it had been done in that manner, it would have been much better," he added.
On political alliances and opposition strategies, Owaisi clarified that he is "thankfully" not a part of the INDIA bloc.
"The opposition talks about strategy, but what answers do they have for the people?" he said.
He dismissed concerns that his party's contesting would indirectly aid the BJP, questioning whether AIMIM winning seats in UP was out of the question and adding that any future alliances would be publicly announced.
Owaisi also weighed in on several other issues, condemning the local administration's attempt to demolish a 600-year-old Shahi Masjid in Ujjain and praising the local public for protesting in a Gandhian manner.
"You cannot demolish mosques like this. The people are protesting in a Gandhian way, and I salute them," he added. (ANI)
"CEC Gyanesh Kumar has lost moral right to continue in office": Owaisi slams EC over SIR
