New Delhi [India], September 29 (ANI): The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Smriti Irani on Tuesday hit out at the Congress leadership, accusing them of undermining constitutional bodies and questioning the integrity of the Election Commission of India (ECI) instead of introspecting on their electoral defeats.
Addressing a press conference, Irani criticised the opposition party's recent statements regarding electoral roll updates and voter list revisions. She recalled Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s stance that while political opposition to him is part of democracy, attacks should not target core democratic institutions.
"Prime Minister Modi has repeatedly said: criticise him, attack him, but do not let this attack turn into an assault on constitutional institutions and India's democracy," Irani stated. "However, the Congress leadership is leaving no stone unturned in tearing apart India's constitutional framework."
Addressing Congress's claims regarding voter list updates involving 13.3 crore entries, Irani highlighted that the Election Commission had already issued an official clarification explaining the door-to-door verification process carried out by Booth Level Officers (BLOs) to remove duplicate and deceased voters.
She questioned the opposition’s motives in opposing the cleanup of voter rolls: "If there are duplicate names or deceased individuals in the electoral rolls, why does the Congress party want the names of deceased people restored? Why does the Congress party want duplicate entries to remain?"
Irani further challenged the Congress leadership's consistency across states where non-BJP governments are in power, such as Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Kerala, and Karnataka, asking whether Congress holds the ECI to the same standards in those regions.
Rebutting Congress's historical reference to the pre-independence Lahore Session, Irani invoked the origins of the Indian National Congress, referencing British official A.O. Hume’s role in its formation to protect British colonial interests.
Hitting out at the opposition for using historical parallels to attack the democratic setup, Irani remarked: "A Congress party that was created for the protection of the British Empire is today attacking the Election Commission of India... Nothing could be more shameful than this."
Meanwhile, a day ahead of the INDIA alliance meeting, the Congress party on Tuesday demanded the immediate resignation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah, following media reports revealing internal dissent within the Election Commission of India (ECI).
The demand was formally adopted through a resolution during a meeting of the Congress Working Committee (CWC), the party's top decision-making body. The resolution called for the immediate resignation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah, the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar, along with an immediate halt to the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voter lists across several states and reinstatement of over 13 lakh voter names that were struck off the electoral rolls during the revision process.
The CWC's sharp reaction follows an Indian Express report indicating that two Election Commissioners, Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi, raised as many as 14 procedural and legal objections against CEC Gyanesh Kumar regarding the conduct of the SIR—including flagging recent modifications to Form 6 as "illegal." (ANI)
"Nothing could be more shameful": Smriti Irani slams Congress over Election Commission attacks
