New Delhi: Telangana Congress vice president Kota Neelima on Tuesday, November 3, termed the BJP’s new campaign as an attempt to hide the serious discrepancies in the special intensive revision (SIR) and brand citizens as ‘anti-national’ who raised questions about the exercise.

Referring to the ‘Save Democracy, Remove Anarchy’ campaign launched by Union Home Minister Amit Shah in Hyderabad on Monday, she said the campaign targets citizens instead of addressing the genuine concerns raised about the SIR process.

“In its typical arrogant style, the BJP is trying to brand anyone who questions the SIR as ‘anti-national’. This is a deliberate attempt to intimidate citizens, political parties and leaders who have raised legitimate, evidence-based objections to the SIR process”, she said.

Neelima, who participated in the ‘Vote Bachao, Desh Bachao’ rally in Delhi on November 1, said the overwhelming public response had alarmed the BJP.

“Lakhs of people came to Delhi’s Ramlila Maidan for this historic rally, and it has deeply worried the BJP. In response, Union Home Minister Amit Shah has staged a small ‘padayatra’ in Hyderabad to blame the citizens of this country for fighting for their right to vote. The BJP has clearly lost sight of wrong,” she said.

On November 1, a large number of supporters from across the country joined the Congress march against vote chori (vote theft), with over 20 opposition parties standing together, where the leaders said deleting over 13 crore voters, nearly 14 per cent of the country, is a direct attack on our democracy that takes away people’s right to vote.

INDIA bloc leading ‘save infiltrator’ rally: Shah

In a counter-attack, Shah on Monday said the government is ready to convene a special session of Parliament on the issue and dared Congress leader Rahul Gandhi to debate the matter in the House.

Dismissing the INDIA bloc’s rally as a “save infiltrator” rally, he wondered how the Congress formed governments in states, including Telangana, “if the EVMs are bad,” and said that Rahul Gandhi can become prime minister only in mock Parliament.

Leading the BJP’s ‘Save Democracy, Remove Anarchy’ padayatra here, Shah said, “Rahul holds the Constitution in hand, but doesn’t respect the Constitution. Rahul ji, you don’t allow Parliament to run. Be it EVMs, SIR, infiltrators, I challenge you from Hyderabad. We are ready to convene a special session of Parliament. Come for debate.”

“We will remove every infiltrator from the electoral rolls,” he added.

If a Parliament session is held, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will “shred Congress into pieces,” he said and accused the Congress of wishing to be in the limelight through anarchy.