Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram, on Tuesday, alleged that the overall deletions of voters after phase 1, phase 2, and phase 3 (ongoing) of the Special
Intensive Revision (SIR) amount to 14% with respect to the total electors in the country. The Congress leader made this claim, adding to his previous statement made a few days ago when he alleged that at least 10% of the country's adult population has been deleted from the electoral rolls. P Chidambaram, who served as Union Minister in the Congress government between 2004-2014, made these claims citing an article by Rahul Shastri and Yogendra Yadav. Taking to X, Chidambaram said, "A few days ago, I had tweeted that 10% of the adult population has been deleted from the electoral rolls. The position is actually worse."
"Thanks to an article by Rahul Shastri and Yogendra Yadav in a newspaper today, it is found: That in Phase I of SIR, of the adult population of 821 lakhs, 65.1 lakhs were deleted. In Phase II, of the adult population of 51.60 crore, 6.5 crore were deleted.
In Phase III, out of the adult population of 35.5 crore, 6.1 crore were deleted. The percentages of deletion are 7. The percentages of deletion are 7.9, 12.6, and 17.18 per cent respectively," Chidambaram said.
"The Constitution says that every adult citizen (above age 18) is a voter. But ECI is apparently above the Constitution. They have converted 13,30,00,000 citizens into non-voting citizens! The overall deletions amount to 14%. One out of seven adults is a non-voter," the senior Congress leader alleged.
Chidambaram, Rajeev Chandrasekhar Trade Barbs Over Naxal Issue
In another development, Keralam BJP chief Rajeev Chandrasekhar and Congress leader P Chidambaram traded barbs on 'X' over the 2013 Naxal attack in Chhattisgarh that killed several Congress leaders. The exchange came days after a court convicted 10 people in connection with the brutal May 25, 2013, attack on a Congress convoy in the state's Bastar region, which killed several party leaders, including then state Congress chief Nand Kumar Patel and former Union minister V C Shukla.
Chandrasekhar, in a post on 'X', linked former Home Minister Chidambaram to the issue and questioned the Congress' handling of the Naxal problem when it was in power.
"In 2013, Naxals killed and wiped out Cong party leadership in Chattisgarh. A few days ago, 10 convicted by Court," Chandrasekhar said.
He then referred to Chidambaram's recent remarks in which the Congress leader described himself as a "Dimaghi Naxal", a term used by BJP leaders to attack those they accuse of being ideological sympathisers of Naxalism.
"Then Home Minister @PChidambaram_IN admits he was/is a #DimaghiNaxal. So Chhattisgarh Congress party leaders were also victims of this ideology," Chandrasekhar asked.
Responding to Chandrasekhar, Chidambaram pointed out that he had left the Union Home Ministry before the Chhattisgarh attack.
"Rajeev Chandrasekhar has amnesia. I left the Ministry of Home Affairs in August 2012. The dastardly attack on Congress leaders in Chhattisgarh took place in May 2013," Chidambaram said.
With inputs from PTI
