Mysuru, June 28 -- Former Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Sunday alleged that the Election Commission was no longer functioning in a constitutionally independent manner and accused the BJP of using the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls to delete eligible voters in a bid to retain power.
Addressing the Congress party's SIR Awareness Convention here, Siddaramaiah claimed that the ongoing voter roll revision exercise was aimed at disenfranchising sections that traditionally supported the Congress, including the poor, farmers, labourers and minorities.
"The Election Commission was created to protect democracy and conduct elections impartially. Earlier, it functioned constitutionally, but that is no longer the case. ...