Rahul leading second freedom struggle: Revanth Reddy

• Revanth Reddy calls the SIR campaign a “second independence struggle” under Rahul Gandhi’s leadership.

• Telangana chief minister alleges voter deletions threaten democracy and disproportionately affect the poor and marginalised.

• Reddy accuses the BJP of seeking to remove 20 crore voters and turn them into “second-class citizens”.

Telangana chief minister A. Revanth Reddy on Monday, 12 October described the fight against the special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls as a “second independence struggle” under Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi’s leadership, accusing the BJP of “dividing society” by removing around 13 crore voters.

Addressing the media before joining the INDIA bloc’s march to the Supreme Court, where the Opposition is set to file a petition against chief election commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over allegations of “vote chori (theft)”, Reddy said the SIR exercise had put the country’s democracy at risk.

He alleged that voters had been deleted since Narendra Modi became prime minister in 2014, but no constitutional authority had spoken out against the practice.

“Under the leadership of Bhagat Singh, the ‘Simon Go Back’ campaign led to the country’s independence. Today, under Rahul Gandhi’s leadership, the ‘Gyanesh Go Back’ slogan will free the country from the BJP. This is the second independence. We need to save democracy now, else we will never be able to,” he said.

Reddy argued that India’s electorate should have crossed 100 crore, given a population of around 140 crore and an estimated 70–75 per cent of people eligible to vote.

“Today, total voters are 83–84 crore, excluding the 13 crore removed. How do you justify this? The census was undertaken by the central government. Voters should increase with the increase in population. This is simple maths. Who is going to respond to this?” he asked.

He accused the prime minister, Parliament, the President and the chief justice of failing to speak out against the alleged deletions, saying Rahul Gandhi was fighting to protect the voting rights of the poor. “If we lose our voting right, we lose everything,” Reddy said.

He alleged that the BJP was dividing society into two categories — the rich and its supporters, who retained their voting rights, and poor people, Adivasis and backward communities who voted against the party. “This kind of division is dangerous for the country,” he said, comparing the alleged discrimination to the now-banned practice of untouchability.

Warning of wider consequences, Reddy said losing voting rights could leave people unable to access welfare benefits. “Once you lose your voting right, nobody will listen to you. No party will think about your welfare. If you lose your voter ID card, you will lose your ration card and then the benefits of government schemes,” he said.

Accusing the BJP of adopting the British colonial strategy of dividing people to secure lasting political advantage, Reddy alleged that the party intended to remove 20 crore voters and turn them into “second-class citizens”.

He said the Congress had secured India’s independence and several of its leaders had sacrificed their lives for the country, adding that the present fight was about more than electoral rolls. “This is not a small matter. It is about the country’s security and survival. The message from Delhi should be taken to every village. This is the problem of the poor, and the Congress will fight for the poor,” he said.

With PTI inputs