Mysuru, 28 June

In a blistering attack, former chief minister of Karnataka Siddaramaiah on Sunday said that the BJP was using the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls to bring about authoritarianism.

Speaking during an SIR awareness campaign in Mysuru, he said: "They (BJP) came to power through the back door. Do you know why? Because they have no faith in democracy and the Constitution that Babasaheb Ambedkar gave us. If there are any opponents of democracy or opponents of the Constitution, they are the members of the BJP.”

He alleged that the BJP's politics were rooted in authoritarianism rather than democratic and constitutional values, and said that the polity was now shifting to “vote betrayal”.

"BJP wants authoritarian rule in this country. That is precisely why they advocate 'One Nation, One Election'," he said, adding that the BJP “loves dictatorship”.

Door-to-door enumeration is set to begin in the State on 30 June and conclude on 31 July, and Siddaramaiah stressed that every individual must take the process seriously, warning that Congress voters were being targeted.

“Out of the country's 141 crore population, there are 96 crore voters,” Siddaramaiah noted. “Among us, many people have won by margins of 1,000 to 5,000 votes. In such places, if 4-5 thousand votes are snatched away, our victory becomes difficult. They delete the votes of the poor, farmers, labourers, and minorities who vote for the Congress party.”

Siddaramaiah noted the case of AR Krishnamurthy, currently the MLA of Kollegal. He had lost the Santhemarahalli bypoll in 2004 by a single vote.

He also alleged that the SIR process was akin to vote theft.

Further, he alleged that the BJP’s popularity was in decline, noting that the BJP received only 34 per cent of the votes during the last parliamentary elections.

“Don't forget that there is no constitutional Election Commission in the country now,” he added, noting that in 2019, the BJP won 303 seats; now in 2024, they have dropped to 240. “They are out to change this result through SIR in the coming days.”

Training his guns at Hindutva politics, he asked, “Who has oppressed Hindus today? Who created the caste divisions and the varna system? Who denied education to the Shudras for hundreds of years? You must understand this. That is why Babasaheb Ambedkar said that those who do not know history can never create history."

He appealed to downtrodden communities not to support the BJP, saying that if the Shudra community falls “prey” to the BJP’s inducements, saying that “if everyone gets equal opportunities, how will they be able to continue exploiting people”.