Union Minister for Power, Housing and Urban Affairs Manohar Lal Khattar on Sunday defended the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, and said that opposition parties had been raising questions over the exercise for a long time but had failed to mislead the public.
“The purpose of the SIR is to ensure that one voter has voting rights at only one place and duplicate or ineligible voters are removed from the electoral system,” he said while reacting to a question regarding the SIR of electoral rolls in Haryana from June 15 at Balu village during his visit to his constituency, where he reviewed development works.
Citing the example of Balu village in Assandh block, Khattar said around 2,500 to 2,600 voters were registered there, but only nearly 1,200 actually actually cast their votes as many residents had shifted abroad or to cities while their names still exist on the village voter list.
“In some cases, voters are registered at two places and the SIR aims to correct such discrepancies. Haryana does not face major issues regarding duplicate voting, but states like West Bengal and Assam had witnessed significant changes after similar corrective measures,” he added.
Khattar maintained that the programme was in the national interest and assured that genuine voters would not face any inconvenience.
Reacting to the Haryana Government’s decision to provide free bus services to NEET aspirants on June 20 and 21, Khatar termed the initiative “commendable and student-friendly.”
He said since the NEET examination was being conducted again, the government was making every possible effort to ensure that students do not face difficulties.
On BJP MLA Ramkumar Gautam’s remarks against former CM Om Prakash Chautala, the Union Minister refused to comment. Responding to a query regarding former CM Bhupinder Singh Hooda not attending the Sadbhav Yatra in Rohtak, he said it was an internal matter of the Congress.
Speaking about his constituency visit, Khattar said, “It is a common complaint that leaders do not return to their constituencies after elections. I have asked all our MLAs to regularly visit their respective areas. There are around 545 gram panchayats in the Karnal Lok Sabha constituency, and it is not easy to visit every village. Therefore, I am visiting bigger villages to review development works and interact directly with people,” said Khattar.
During his visit to the Assandh constituency, Khattar interacted with local residents and reviewed the progress of villages under the Jan Sampark Abhiyan. He also discussed development priorities with villagers and thanked them for their continued support.
On Saturday evening, Khattar had also announced that libraries would be opened in all 395 gram panchayats of the district to provide facilities similar to coaching centres at the village level, enabling youth to prepare for jobs and competitive examinations within their own villages.
