AIMIM chief and Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi has raised objections to a provision in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process of electoral rolls, alleging that the enumeration form allows details of only up to five children to be recorded.
Addressing a public gathering in Hyderabad, Owaisi questioned the basis of the provision and said there is no law in India that disqualifies a citizen from voting for having more than five children.
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Urging people to cooperate with the voter verification exercise and submit their details correctly, Owaisi also took a dig at top BJP leaders while speaking about large families.
“They are saying details of more than five children cannot be mapped. I myself have six children. Prime Minister Narendra Modi also belongs to a family with more than six siblings, and Union Home Minister Amit Shah too comes from a large family,” the AIMIM president said.
He further said that the right to vote is a constitutional right and cannot be denied on the basis of family size.
“There is no law in the country that bars a person from voting because they have six children,” he added.
The Special Intensive Revision of the electoral rolls in Telangana is set to begin on June 15. Booth Level Officers will conduct door-to-door verification between June 25 and July 24. A draft electoral roll is expected to be published on July 31, while claims and objections can be submitted till August 30. The final voter list will be released on October 1.
Owaisi has been openly critical of the revision exercise and earlier alleged that such processes could lead to the exclusion of genuine voters.
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At the same time, he directed party leaders and workers to assist residents during the verification process to ensure that eligible voters are not removed from electoral rolls because of procedural issues or lack of awareness.
He had also held meetings with AIMIM legislators to review preparations related to the exercise and discuss measures to safeguard voter inclusion.
