New Delhi, Sept. 27 -- Chief Minister Rekha Gupta on Sunday hit out at the Opposition over its allegations against the Election Commission and the electoral process, accusing it of creating "baseless" controversy and attempting to divert public attention from development issues.
Addressing reporters at Janseva Sadan, Gupta questioned the Opposition's criticism of the poll panel's functioning and said political parties should raise concerns through constitutional and legal channels. "Everyone has the right to ask questions in a democracy, but such questions should be based on facts," she said.
Her remarks came amid the ongoing political row over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. The Election Commission's voter services portal currently provides facilities for SIR-related submissions, including Form 6 for new voter registration and a separate declaration form.
On questions surrounding Form 6, Gupta said the original form had not been changed and that a separate declaration had been added for the SIR process. She said the exercise was aimed at verifying electoral roll entries and retaining eligible voters while identifying entries that may have become invalid because of death, shifting or duplication.
The CM also questioned the Opposition's allegations of "vote chori" and said electoral rolls needed to be updated through verification and claims and objections.
For Delhi, the ECI schedule lists September 20 to October 20 as the claims and objections period and October 7 as the publication date for the final electoral roll.
Gupta alleged that the Opposition began questioning the electoral process when election results did not go its way. Referring to the BJP's 2014 Lok Sabha victory, she asked whether similar questions had been raised about the Election Commission at that time.
"You may spread as much false propaganda as you want to mislead the people, but the people are watching everything. The people will answer each and every point. Lies have no legs," she said.
Gupta also criticised Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and other Opposition leaders over their statements on the issue. She said their activities were, in her view, "no less than treason" and said cases of treason should be registered against them.
The Chief Minister maintained that political parties had a responsibility to preserve public trust in constitutional institutions and said concerns over the electoral process should be backed by evidence and raised through prescribed mechanisms.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.