Panaji: BJP Goa President Damodar Naik on Friday said the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls should follow a transparent verification process, while alleging that some political forces were trying to bring back “bogus voters” into the electoral rolls.
Naik’s remarks came amid a political row in Goa over the SIR exercise, with opposition parties raising concerns over the deletion of names from the electoral rolls and demanding greater transparency in the process.
Speaking to reporters, Naik said the issue concerned the Election Commission of India (ECI) and maintained that anyone whose name was missing from the electoral roll should follow the prescribed procedure for verification.
“It is a matter concerning the ECI. We did not go personally. If someone’s name is missing, they should follow the transparent process. There is a proper procedure for verification,” he said.
Naik said local political leaders may not be aware if any person had been included in the electoral roll through an illegal process.
He accused the Congress of raising the issue to create a political narrative.
“Congress is crying because they know that they are not going to get elected. Congress has been trying to create a narrative by making accusations,” Naik said.
He also said the younger generation should be reminded of what he described as scams during previous Congress governments.
On the issue of allegedly ineligible voters, Naik claimed that some political forces were attempting to restore “bogus voters” to the electoral rolls.
“Some political forces are trying to get back the bogus voters into the list. I don’t say that all the names deserved to be deleted, but I feel that Goans should get justice,” he said.
At the same time, Naik said concerns over the deletion of genuine voters should not be used to allow people who are not eligible to be included in the electoral rolls.
“Taking that as an excuse, you cannot allow non-Goans to make themselves part of the list and take benefit of the schemes,” he said.
Naik claimed that several names had earlier figured “wrongly” in the voters’ list and stressed that the entire exercise should be transparent.
“I feel that the entire process has to be transparent. But there should not be any bogus voters in the list,” he said.
