Ramchandra Rao: SIR Not BJP Plot, Just EC Routine

Hyderabad – Telangana BJP chief N. Ramchandra Rao on Tuesday dismissed Congress claims that the Special Intensive Revision of voters’ lists is a calculated strategy to disenfranchise certain communities. Rao clarified that the exercise is a standard Election Commission procedure repeated every few years and has been implemented around ten or eleven times across India. He accused the opposition of using the revision as a scapegoat after successive poll defeats. Rao also contrasted the BJP’s decade-plus rule with earlier political eras, asserting that Prime Minister Narendra Modi earned his long tenure through fully democratic elections rather than nomination. He said Modi’s administrative experience gives him an edge unmatched by previous leaders. The statement follows criticism from TJSP leader M. Kodandaram, who warned that the revision disproportionately affects Scheduled Castes, minorities and the poor, stripping them of their constitutional right to vote and weakening their ability to hold governments accountable.