Hyderabad, Aug 18 Telangana Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy on Monday expressed the apprehension that ‘vote theft’ may happen in Telangana and called upon people to remain alert to foil the conspiracy to steal democracy. He urged people to verify their and their family members’ names in the voter list.
He accused the BJP of committing large-scale voter fraud across the country and stated that Leader of Opposition (LoP) in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, was leading the movement to protect the sacred right to vote of every citizen.
The Chief Minister was addressing a meeting organised to mark the 375th birth anniversary of Sardar Sarvai Papanna Goud, the 17th Century warrior.
“The vote theft is not limited to Maharashtra or Bihar. Conspiracies are being hatched to commit similar vote fraud tomorrow in Telangana. You all should be alert and check if your and your family members’ names are there in the voter list. We must all unite and fight against those who try to steal our votes,” he said.
He alleged that the BJP came to power in Maharashtra with fake votes. He said in just four months, one crore new voters were added in Maharashtra.
“Can one crore people be born anywhere in four months? Even if they were born, would they get voting rights immediately?” he asked and accused the BJP of trampling democracy to come to power. He said the BJP mocked the Constitution in B.R Ambedkar’s own land.
CM Reddy said ahead of elections in Bihar, the BJP in collusion with the Election Commission indulged in vote theft by deleting 65 lakh voters' names. He claimed that even living people were shown as dead.
The Chief Minister said LoP Rahul Gandhi exposed this conspiracy but instead of punishing the culprits, the Election Commission was questioning him and demanding affidavits.
Stating that LoP Gandhi has undertaken a padyatra in Bihar against the vote theft, he announced that he, along with Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka and TPCC President Mahesh Kumar Goud would join the padyatra.
He accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Minister G. Kishan Reddy of obstructing 42 per cent reservation to Backward Classes (BCs) under the guise of religion.
He slammed the BJP-led government at the Centre for not approving two Bills passed by the Telangana legislature to enhance BC reservation to 42 per cent in education, employment and local bodies.
He dismissed the argument by BJP leaders that the Bills were not being given the Presidential assent as Muslims will also get benefit of reservation along with BCs.
He said that for 56 years, BCs among Muslims have been enjoying the reservation benefits in different parts of the country. “Why can’t BJP remove them in Gujarat, or Uttar Pradesh if they are so opposed to reservations to Muslims?” he asked and accused the BJP of using religion to deny BCs their rights.
He also criticised the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) for not joining the dharna in New Delhi over the BC reservation Bills. He accused BRS of doing great injustice to the BCs in its 10-year rule and continuing its discrimination by siding with the BJP.
Revanth Reddy said the Congress government conducted a caste survey to fulfil the promise made by LoP Gandhi during elections.
CM Revanth Reddy, who earlier laid the foundation stone for Papanna Goud’s statue near the Tank Bund, paid rich tributes to the warrior.
Stating that Papanna Goud established his empire centuries ago, CM Revanth Reddy promised to preserve his legacy and added that the government protected the historic Khilashapur Fort, which will be developed into a major heritage tourism site.
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