Union Minister Ramdas Athawale on Thursday said the Opposition has every right to hold meetings and organise peaceful protests over alleged irregularities in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, but asserted that demonstrations cannot be used to change an elected government.

Source: IANS

Speaking to IANS in Mumbai, Athawale said the Opposition's concerns about the accuracy of electoral rolls should be addressed, including allegations of bogus voting and the wrongful deletion of voters' names. However, he questioned the allegation of 'vote theft' and accused the Opposition of looking for excuses to protest against the government.

"I believe the Opposition has every right to hold meetings and organise peaceful protests regarding the SIR issue. If their demand is legitimate, that vote theft occurred or that SIR is not right, their stance is that the electoral roll must be correct, and bogus voting or wrongful deletion of voters should not happen," he told IANS.

Athawale then turned the Opposition's allegation back on it, pointing to the BJP-led NDA's own shortfall in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. "When PM Modi announced the '400 paar' goal and we didn't achieve that many seats, should we accuse them of stealing votes to get more seats? The Opposition simply has no other issue, so they invent excuses on every topic to continue protesting against the government or the elections," he alleged.

The minister also criticised Opposition leaders for repeatedly predicting the fall of the government, saying those claims had not materialised. His remarks came as the INDIA bloc's proposed virtual meeting on Thursday evening — to chart protests over the 'vote chori' issue and press for the Chief Election Commissioner's resignation — was deferred, according to PTI, with the bloc's November 1 rally in Delhi still in preparation.

Source: PTI via Dailyworld