Farooq Abdullah criticises EC over SIR, says no one can remove citizen from voter list

National Conference chief Farooq Abdullah slammed the alleged deletions by the Election Commission from the voter rolls amid protests against CEC Gyanesh Kumar over the SIR exercise but said people have begun to show courage indicating that change is on the waySpeaking at the fifth Halla Bolle conclave here the threetime former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister criticised the chief election commissioner and said that no one has the right to remove an Indian citizen from the voter listEveryone knew how peoples names were struck off the voter rolls And then they casually say Well well see about it in the next election When the Constitution of India gives you the right as an Indian citizen to vote no one has the right to remove anyone from the list he said Yet they did itThey selectively targeted and struck off Muslims Look at the extent of it even an eminent lawyer like Kapil Sibal was removed from the list How many were struck off Because their objective is We have to stay in power until eternity and to do that we need people who will do our biddingAbdullah however said winds of change have started to blow in the country and that the spirit of India remains very much aliveCourage is beginning to emerge among our people Change will come I am telling you whether I am alive or dead change is on the way That wind has started blowing whereby peoples authority will again emerge he said in response to a question about the SIR row and role of CEC Gyanesh Kumar during a questionanswer session at the eventThe National Conference NC president said it is the people who formed this country from north to south and east to west and it is these people who will make India greatAnd they have started showing it And the Forward Bloc party is one of these wings that we have today that has started this movement India is not dead India is alive he saidAbdullah said he was grateful that people and political parties have now started rising up and refusing to accept thisYou saw it the day before yesterday in Mumbai They held a massive protest Yesterday it was in Delhi he said referring to the protests against the CEC and the SIR in Mumbai and DelhiAnd look at that young woman who stood tall and questioned them Look at that girl who confronted a police officer when asked Where is your name Where are your documents She replied First show your badge so we know who you are the former chief minister said pointing to AISA national president Neha BoraAbdullah however lamented that the biggest mistake made during Nehrus administration was not making the Election Commission completely autonomousThey should have made the Election Commission totally autonomous It was a mistake and we are suffering the consequences today Had the Election Commission been autonomous we would not be in this state today he saidThe NC chief said then Prime Minister Narendra Modis government kept two members from the government and one from the opposition to select the Chief Election CommissionerTell me when the majority of two is on one side what can that single opposition leader do Because the decision is made by majority By using that majority Modi appointed a secretary from his own department as the Election Commissions chief He is completely biased toward the BJP and works for Sangh Abdullah allegedThe former Union minister said the tragedy is that the BJP has forgotten the Constitution that B R Ambedkar gave the countryThe one we are meant to follow Instead they have sidelined Ambedkar It is deeply tragic he addedThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever