Daijiworld Media Network – New Delhi

New Delhi, Jul 2: BJP MP Govind Karjol on Thursday alleged that the Congress was opposing the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls out of fear of losing the upcoming local body elections.

Addressing mediapersons, Karjol claimed the Congress was panicking over its prospects in the civic polls and criticised the party for what he termed its shifting stand on electoral processes.

He said the Congress had earlier questioned the credibility of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs), but its campaign had failed to gain public support.

"The people did not take Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's rallies seriously," Karjol said.

Referring to the political situation in West Bengal, he alleged that the Congress had joined hands with the Trinamool Congress (TMC) to create disturbances.

"Rahul Gandhi is extremely disappointed after the BJP's victory in West Bengal. Now he is saying SIR is not correct," Karjol alleged.

Questioning the opposition to the electoral roll revision, the BJP leader said Chief Minister D K Shivakumar himself had initiated the exercise.

"Why should voter list revision not be done? It was Chief Minister D K Shivakumar himself who gave the lead for this exercise. Yet, some Congress leaders in Karnataka are opposing it and trying to mislead the public," he claimed.

Karjol also demanded that the Karnataka government constitute a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe alleged irregularities in the implementation of the Gruha Lakshmi scheme.

Claiming that Congress leaders themselves had raised concerns over the scheme, he alleged that 23,462 accounts had received duplicate payments, while funds meant for thousands of beneficiaries had been credited to single accounts.

"The state government should constitute an SIT to probe this and the culprits should be booked," he demanded.